My Echo, the eleventh studio album from country legend Laura Veirs, must have been a devastatingly difficult body of work to complete. Her husband, Tucker Martine, produced the album while the couple went through couples therapy, only for their relationship to ultimately end in divorce before the album was released. But while there’s plenty of introspection and even sadness on My Echo, it is far from a bitter breakup record.

Instead what we have here is a haunting collection of songs that explore themes of isolation, love and loss, and the self. It is, however, a record whose message ultimately feels like one of positivity and optimism rather than despair.

Opening track Freedom Feeling builds from a sparse opening into a rich orchestral finale, while Another Space And Time has a trippy, other-worldly feel. Turqouise Walls is a devastating affair, and where My Echo really starts to open up lyrically (“When I thought that I might lose you I trembled like a leaf” and “The warmth and the beauty of your eyes / It crushes me to think / That you could give that love to someone else”).

Burn Too Bright skips along merrily despite seeming on the face of it to be about Martine, while Brick Layer feels like it’s opposite, a darker and more sombre track but every bit as captivating. Vapor Trails closes things beatifully, a tender ballad with an optimistic message of hope and possibility.

Writing on her official Facebook page, Veirs said: “It is a weird time to release an album and I’m sad to not be able to go out and tour it for you but that time will come again. In the meantime I hope these new songs give you some solace during these complex COVID times. Making and listening to music is a way for me to find meaning in my life and to feel connected to others and I sincerely hope I have communicated something authentic with this new album. Thanks to everyone who made it with me last year and thanks to you for listening to it now.”

Recorded before the Corononavirus pandemic, it’s a theme that isn’t present on the record. Strangely though, the songs resonate even more in these uncertain times because of that fact. It’s an album that demands repeated listens, too, with Veirs’ trademark songwriting skills revealing little flourishes with each new playthrough.

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

Watch the official video for Burn Too Bright here.

Author: Joe Sharratt

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