Laura Cantrell – 14th Street

Laura Cantrell
14th Street

I don’t know if it’s just me but Nashville’s Laura Cantrell has one of the sweetest and prettiest voices I’ve heard lately. This sort of came out from left field for me, because I found her music while just browsing the Matador Records site. When I think of Matador, I’m thinking Interpol and Yo La Tengo… all the big indie rock names. But Laura doesn’t really fit with that crowd, though Matador is definitely known for it’s eclectic lineup.

The first song off her new album “Humming By The Flowered Vine” is a cover of a song by Portland’s Emily Spray called “14th Street”, a catchy and straightforward (if slightly adult contemporary) pop song. A really beautiful tune actually, I could see how it would definitely catch indie label ears. It’s Cantrell’s voice that really shines through here, a combination of sweet airy vocals that ride just barely on the edge of melancholy. When she sings up higher its a bit Joni Mitchell, but when in her wheelhouse range it’s more Lori Carson.

Though “Humming” is her first album off Matador, she’s no stranger to fame having been championed by the late John Peel as well as being asked by Elvis Costello to open for him on his 2002 U.S. tour. In her spare time, she also hosts the The Radio Thrift Shop on freeform WFMU 91.1 on Saturdays.

by Palebear