Blues-rock (with some soul, pop and prog mixed in) is in safe hands these days with artists like Joanne Shaw Taylor, Samantha Fish, Ana Popovic, Chantel McGregor and Erja Lyytinen keeping the blues flag flying. There is a new(ish) name on the scene to add to that list: Laura Cox, who is about to release her second album called Head Above Water and she surely deserves to join that esteemed group of musicians.
Fortunately for us, Laura’s father had classic rock and blues in his record collection, and so she began to listen and learn from the likes of Slash and Joe Bonamassa. A natural ability was revealed and after graduating from acoustic to full-on electric guitar, she formed the Laura Cox Band and released the very strong Hard Blues Shot album in 2017. Going solo, with a band in 2019 saw the release of the even better Burning Bright debut.
Now we are treated to a new collection of originals on Head Above Water; rock is more to the fore but blues and bluegrass hints are there to be mined and her vocals are more expressive and natural. If you doubt how well bluegrass can mix, just listen to ‘So Long’; a great rock song that has subtle, illuminating and effective banjo picked behind the main riff and melodies – it works brilliantly. The opening and title track is a clever and edifying mix of Stones, Faces style R’n’B with a very modern edge, a great bass line and an intelligent guitar solo following the relaxed bridge. ‘Set Me Free’ shows Laura is equally adept on the side as a more bluesy rock with a Southern hint wraps itself around you. The Hammond adds colour and the guitar solo is excellent too. ‘Seaside’ is not Scarborough! It’s an ingenious melding of banjo-led bluegrass, solid blues, a delightful vocal and some seriously slinky slide to make a laid-back highlight. The same can be applied to the closing track ‘Glassy Day’ but with a different complexion.
This is a very strong album, varied and immaculately played by all concerned and if there’s any justice in this mad world Laura will be rightly lauded and rewarded for this lovely album.
Head Above Water is out on January 20th 2023 via earMusic.
