So there I go thinking that hailing from San Francisco being sweet of voice gets you nowhere in my affections when along comes Anna Laube and her third, self-titled, album. She’s easy on the ear but she is nonetheless likely to capture your heart.
Her approach to her songs is cunningly understated with a melodic fluidity underpinning all that she does. Even when apparently Nashville bound, as in “Already There”, Ms. Laube never seems a singer determined to follow the path to fame as much as one dedicated to the art of the song and, forever ear friendly, she duly demonstrates that by neatly mixing some fifties r ’n’ b style into “Oh My (Oh Me! Oh Me Oh My)”. It is no surprise therefore that she handles frivolity just as well with “Chocolate Chip Banana Cupcakes” and “The Bike Song” being much more than mere candyfloss.
“Sugarcane” draws heavily on times gone by for its driving force but never seems derivative whilst her cover of the standard “Satisfied Mind” highlights the fact that Ms. Laube can interpret the meaning of lyrics with the best of them. Talking of the best, she leaves that right to the end with the unifying message of “Green” allowing the song to take the prize for being most likely to surreptitiously embed itself inside your head.
A classy act indeed, Anna Laube shows her true worth with this album.