''Found Light'' is a 2022 studio album by American singer-songwriter

Laura Veirs Laura Pauline Veirs (born October 24, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter based out of Portland, Oregon. She is known for her folk/alternative country records and live performances as well as her collaboration with Neko Case and k.d. lang on ...

. This is the first album without long-time producer Tucker Martine and also the first where Veirs recorded her guitar and vocals simultaneously. It has received positive critical reception.

Recording

''Found Light'' is Veirs' first album without producer and ex-husband Tucker Martine since 2001. Veirs co-produced the album with Shahzad Ismaily and attempted to change how she made it, such as recording her guitar part and vocals simultaneously and also using different guitar tunings to have different

voicings ''Voicings'' was the last recording by the Minneapolis jazz vocal group Rio Nido. The album was one of the early recordings to feature live "direct to digital" recording techniques. Track listing # "Northern Lights" (D. Karr, L. Ball) # "I'm ...

. Usually, when preparing a new album, Veirs will write 200 or 300 songs, re-writing and drafting parts of song elements until she can finalize the album with her best compositions; for ''Found Light'', she pared down the preparation process to 80 or so revisions, making around 30 complete songs and resulting in 14 on the final release.

Reception

The album has received several positive reviews from critics, including Mark Deming of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, who sums up his review calling this release, "an engaging new chapter in the career of a gifted songwriter"; the site's editorial group gave it four out of five stars. Steve Horowitz of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

also considers this a departure from Veirs' previous work, calling this "more inquisitive and exploratory (and even experimental) than before" and scoring it a seven out of 10. A similar score came from

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

's Brian Howe; his 7.6 out of 10 praises the performer's voice and songwriting for "compact, allusive songs". Writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Rachel Aroesti gave ''Found Light'' four out of five stars for the singer's voice, the diversity of emotions in the music, and particularly Veirs' "hugely arresting" lyrics. In '' Paste'', Annie Parnell characterizes these emotions and lyrics as a "stirring song cycle that deals in the beauty and agony of transformation"; she scored the album an eight out of 10. John Amen of '' No Depression'' also notes the lyrical depth, as well as the diversity of musical genre influences in a positive assessment.

Track listing

All songs written by Laura Veirs, except where noted #"Autumn Song" – 3:38 #"Ring Song" – 3:13 #"Seaside Haiku" – 3:08 #"Naked Hymn" – 4:00 #"My Lantern" – 3:01 #"Signal" – 4:11 #"Can't Help But Sing" – 3:00 #"Eucalyptus" – 4:27 #"New Arms" – 2:58 #"Sword Song" – 2:55 #"Time Will Show You" – 4:07 #"T & O" – 2:20 #"Komorebi" (Aaron Roche) – 2:21 #"Winter Windows" – 2:54

Personnel

– vocals; guitar;

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

on "Ring Song" and "Komorebi";

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

on "Seaside Haiku", "New Arms", and "Winter Windows";

steel string guitar Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

on "My Lantern"; finger snaps on "Signal"; beats on "Eucalyptus"; field recordings on "Eucalyptus";

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

; interior painting *

Sam Amidon Samuel Tear Amidon (born June 3, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Musical career In 2001, Amidon self-released ''Solo Fiddle'', an album of traditional Irish fiddle instrumentals. Amidon's first album of ...

–

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

on "My Lantern",

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

on "Time Will Show You" * Karl Blau – guitar on "My Lantern", backing vocals on "New Arms" *Josh Bonati – mastering at GZ Media – 238444E *Shelby Bracken – photography * Dave Depper – beats on "Eucalyptus";

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

on "Autumn Song", "Naked Hymn", "Eucalyptus", and "Sword Song" *Rachel Frankel – design *Charlotte Greve –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

on "Naked Hymn",

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

on "My Lantern", flut" on "Time Will Show You" *

Shahzad Ismaily Secret Chiefs 3 (or SC3) is an American avant-garde group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance (of Mr. Bungle and formerly, Faith No More). Their studio recordings and tours have featured different lineups, as the group performs a wide rang ...

– bass guitar on "Autumn Song", "Ring Song", "Seaside Haiku", "My Lantern", "Signal", "Eucalyptus" "New Arms", and "Winter Windows"; drums on "Ring Song", "Seaside Haiku", "Signal", "New Arms", "Time WIll Show You", and "Winter Windows"; piano on "Ring Song" and "Komorebi"; bells on "Naked Hymn"; percussion on "Naked Hymn", "Signal", "Eucalyptus", and "Time Will Show You"; synthesizer on "Naked Hymn", "Signal"; electric guitar on "My Lantern" and "New Arms"; beats on "Eucalyptus"; production *Kendra Lynn – engineering on "Ring Song", "Seaside Haiku", "My Lantern", "Signal", "Can't Help But Sing", "New Arms", "Time Will Show You", "T & O", "Komorebi", and "Winter Windows" *Aaron Roche – trombone on "Autumn Song" and "Komorebi",

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

on "Komorebi", guitar on "Komorebi", synthesizer on "Komorebi",

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

on "Komorebi" * Kate Stables – backing vocals on "Autumn Song" *Indigo Street – electric guitar

feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...

on "Winter Windows" *Phil Weinrobe – mixing

Recording

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

See also