portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Thursday, November 04, 2021

Le REN - AQUARIUM DRUNKARD - Lagniappe Sessions







I love Aquarium Drunkards Lagniappe Sessions* and have come across new artists and enjoyed many of their posts but this is just plain gorgeous! I have never heard of Ms Lauren Spear who goes by Le Ren

*(Lagniappe (la ·gniappe) noun ‘lan-ˌyap,’ — 1. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. 2. Something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus.)


(Kitty Wells)


I hope these play okay and if not check out the Aquarium without delay! The Kitty Wells will tear your heart out as will Singer Not The Song . . . . . . . . . . 

The Drunkard says:

Le Ren—the musical endeavor of Montreal’s Lauren Spear—has created one of the more wondrous country records in recent memory with her debut long player. Entitled Leftovers, it’s the type of timeless record that leads into the many vast and winding roads that country music implies. Spear’s vocals fluidly move from a deep, sepia-toned croon to a gentler, wistful coo depending on the songs’ demands. And, oh man, those songs. Some stark and plainspoken, steeped in pedal-steel and fiddle, and others living in a more baroque-folk space, with luminous harmonies and Spear’s adoring and affecting wordplay seemingly stopping time. On “Annabelle and Maryanne,” an exchange of letters between two lovers, she channels an almost Simon & Garfunkel level of melancholic perfection. “You needn’t worry so much over me,” Annabelle assures Maryanne, “I’m holding on like an autumn tree holds onto leaves.” And, in the album’s closing moments, when Spear sings, “May Hard Times Pass Us By,” she feels wholly eternal. Like an ancient and wise country-folk dweller who has always existed, but has chosen only just now to speak, and to speak profoundly.

For her debut Lagniappe Session, Spear digs in on her roots—tackling country and bluegrass popular songs, the pioneering Hazel Dickens, and the forward-thinking feminism of Kitty Wells—and weaves them her own: a warm, gentle tapestry with threads growing ever new. 

Lagniappe Sessions Archives

https://secretlycanadian.com/artist/le-ren/





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