American country legend Laura Veirs has released a new single, Turquoise Walls, from her upcoming new album My Echo, which is due out on 23 October through Bella Union.

The album features guest appearances from Jim James, Bill Frisell, Karl Blau, Matt Ward and others, and is produced by Veirs’ now ex-husband Tucker Martine. It is her first new album since 2018’s The Lookout.

In a press release announcing her new LP, Veirs said: “My Echo is my 11th solo album. It’s my ‘my songs knew I was getting divorced before I did’ album. My conscious mind was trying as hard as I could to keep my family together but my subconscious mind was working on the difficult struggles in my marital life.

“I was part of a “Secret Poetry Group” that met and wrote poems monthly for a year during the writing of this record. Many of my poems turned into songs for this album. By the time the album was being mixed last fall, my ex-husband/producer Tucker Martine and I had decided to go our separate ways. We were a great musical team for many years but we struggled to be compatible in our marriage and family life and that struggle is reflected in this album.

“In this new batch of songs I imagine escaping from some sort of prison or cage. Advancing age, the confines of domesticity, our oppressive government and the threat of the apocalypse permeate these songs. In these songs my heart craves certainty and permanence but none is to be found. It’s an album about disintegration. It reveals my artist’s intuition at work.

Although these songs were written before quarantine they are strangely relevant to times in which we find ourselves currently.”

Released last month, the album’s lead single – Burn Too Bright – was inspired by the late Richard Swift, the musician and producer who was part of The Shins and The Black Keys, as well as a prolific solo artist, and who died in July 2018 aged 41.

Watch the official video for Turquoise Walls here.

My Echo tracklist:

1. Freedom Feeling

2. Another Space And Time

3. Turquoise Walls

4. Memaloose Island

5. End Times

6. Burn Too Bright

7. Brick Layer

8. All The Things

9. I Sing To The Tall Man

10. Vapor Trails

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Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.