Laura Loriga
Vever

Laura Loriga - Vever (Ears&EyesRecords – 2022)

Genre: Electro folk, songwriting

What's happening to me tonight, it's quite late but Morpheus is not keen on visiting me. I have a book by Cotto "Rock is the Answer" which has been sitting on my bedside table for a few days, keeps me company at night, and, no offense to good Massimo, after about ten pages, typically, Hypnos and Nyx send me into the arms of their son. I approach the stereo system, yes, the one with a preamp and final and a pair of three-way speakers, instead of the turntable there's a CD player; no, I haven't returned to vinyl, I don't much like reheated soup. From the shelf where I've placed some recently purchased CDs, I randomly pick one, but do you believe in chance? I don't. The cover is particular: a sort of farmhouse with super-illuminated windows standing against a dark background. Tonight, however, I feel a kind of pareidolia as it seems to me I see the head of a cat with its tongue out and other disturbing faces. It's VEVER by Laura Loriga; well well, just what I need.

I put on the headphones and the CD in the player, gestures repeated who knows how many times, but always bringing good vibrations. Perhaps it's because it's three in the morning, perhaps it's because the headphones manage to ferry the music into the most hidden areas of the brain, but the record is taking over my will, my thoughts, and envelops me with its ethereal and pathos-filled atmospheres. A series of shadowy ballads, not always tied to the song form but emphasized by her intensely expressive voice.

In this new work, the first under her own name, the Bolognese singer-songwriter and composer, transplanted to the USA, abandons the classic voice/piano structure that characterized the three records made between 2009 and 2016 with the Mimes Of Wine and various electric organs assume a supporting role. The choice is a winning one: the interplay with drones, synthesizers, harmonium, drums, winds, and unusual string instruments creates fascinating and unsettling soundscapes hardly achievable with an acoustic piano. The most impressive instrument is undoubtedly her stunning voice which emerges through the rich and intoxicating music, without embellishments or inappropriate warbles, and that never loses the sensuality of the melody.

The album, made in New York between 2019 and 2020, features the magnificent collaboration of some members of Mimes of Wine and other international musicians including Josh Werner (Collaborator of CocoRosie, Lee Scratch Perry, Marc Ribot) on electric bass, Otto Hauser (previously with Michael Hurly, Cass McCombs, Kevin Ayers, and Devendra Banhart) on drums, Anni Rossi on viola, and Ran Livneh on double bass.

VELVER is a Haitian term referring to voodoo rituals, in which one's ancestors are evoked using symmetrical drawings, ancient divine symbols that favor contact between the living and the dead. “These rituals – Laura explains – I find them fascinating and they make me reflect on the relationship with others, with my own family who interacts with places, spaces and time that passes and changes very quickly.” All of this shines through in her compositions where echoes of concerts and records listened to, books read and unconditionally loved, re-emerge, and where Italian and American culture meet (clash) admirably.

“Reading books has always influenced my artistic path.– she declares in an interview – In every album I've written, at least one track is based on a book or a poem. Among them, Amuleto by Roberto Bolano, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, and in my latest album, one of the tracks is based on a beautiful poem by Zbigniew Herbert. The written word creates images, which create sounds, which in turn create other sounds, words... it's a continuous cycle that is self-sustaining and always different. (…) A couple of friends acted as wonderful guides for me, letting me listen to many records that I had no idea existed, while we were rummaging through record stores or driving around town. I remember that the knowledge and listening to the works of Karen Dalton, Alice Coltrane, Laurie Anderson, or Meredith Monk, for example, made me think about what language and the human voice are in music... it's infinite, and that's why music is so important. My taste and instincts have changed gradually and deeply, especially since I moved to New York in 2014. There, in these years, I can say I found the most varied and compelling musical community, from which I constantly learned. I feel that I still have a long way to go and in a certain sense I found a clearer direction with this album.”

In conclusion, it can be said that VEVER is a complete, singular work, a sort of concept album to be evaluated as a whole and not by individual tracks. It should be listened to with headphones (preferably at three in the morning) to capture all its charm and magic.

Note: The disc is available for free download at this link:

https://lauraloriga.bandcamp.com/album/vever/