By Deuce

Songwriting—lyrics, instrumentalism, progression and meaning—is alive and well on Laura Taubman’s The Gospel of Getting Free, a 10-track album that first touched down over the spring.

The oeuvre has a deliciously refreshing lack of programming. The drums are live, the synths are minimalist, warm, and in the background. Taubman’s guitars, and those of the other musicians on this album, are front and center. She plays the role of a raconteur on the majority of the numbers, her plaintive alto standing out amidst the rippling currents of those marvelous stringed instruments.

In fact, it’s difficult to say whether the acoustic or the electric guitars bestowed upon this effort sound better. There’s no denying the appeal of the former on the title track, which might actually contain the best acoustic guitar playing on the entire collection. The pace is slow and easy; this is one of the few tunes in which there are dreamy, dozing synths slumbering along, and the cut is largely devoid of drums, sort of hearkening back to Stevie Wonder’s “Inner Visions”.

In fact, the pairing of acoustic and electric guitars found on Wonder’s work make for a fine combination on most of the songs on Taubman’s LP. There’s some kind of a tubed guitar playing chords on “Assyrian King” that is a sheer delight to behold, listen to, and revel in, as it were. A touch of organ smoothes the track out, the bass is working, and the acoustic guitars gurgle along handily, providing an infectious melody.

Sonically, the work is tightly put together. On “Home At Last”, the first and likely the best of the songs, the harmonies are so well mixed that it’s difficult to tell if Taubman is singing with herself on multiple tracks or with another. The latter is certainly the case on  “The Siren”, which is notable for its otherworldly acoustic guitar intro, which features a male vocalist succinctly underlying Taubman’s singing in spurts. It’s indicative of the quality of this effort in general, and the professionalism with which it was completed.