Laura Veirs // Tumble Bee
"You cannot describe genuine heartfelt lullabies as anything twee – apart from the fact mum and dad decided to release it and put a price tag on it."
Release Date: November 7th 2011
Laura Veirs – Tumble Bee (Bella Union)
Tennessee will sleep easy now. I’m not talking about a change in State Law on gun rights, or anything nearly that widespread, just one little pair of ears belonging to Tennessee Veirs Martine. The son of the sweet, sweet pairing of mom Laura Veirs (she does a little singing, don’t you know) and dad, producer and partner Tucker Martine has been given a gift of an album, a collection of 13 children’s songs re-imagined by his parents. Quite surprisingly, I don’t have one ounce of cynicism on the matter – I truly think it’s a comforter we would all enjoy. Perhaps because Veirs’ folky humility seems so at home taking these songs by the hand and leading them down the road, there is nothing forced, and you cannot describe genuine heartfelt lullabies as anything twee – apart from the fact mum and dad decided to release it and put a price tag on it. This though is their trade, and to share the warmth of title track ‘Tumble Bee’ with us, to let us play as they have with ‘Jack Can I Ride’ is a delightful opportunity. ‘Soldier’s Joy’ is a little too much like a manic game of pass the parcel to actually be played in adult company, but the resolution ‘Prairie Dream’ gives the album at the end makes it an album to tuck away with the small socks and lost first teeth of childhood treasures.
7/10 Emma Garwood
