The Wire Review
Originally from Wexford in Ireland, now London based, Laura Hyland deserves full credit for pushing the singer-songwriter boat into murky and dangerous waters. Her Clang Sayne quartet (two guitars, bass and drums) brings an exploratory, improvisor's spirit to her unashamedly literary songs. Lilly Allen this ain't: it's more like Sylvia Plath trying to keep a team of unruly beatnik experimenters in check. "A Death And A Vision" (heard on last October's Wire Tapper 22 CD, with issue 308) is about the death of a grandmother, while "Shipwrecks" is a seascape for the drowning - these are non-rhythmic musical adventures, and Hyland as much as anyone seems to be boldly striking out for the unknown shore. Alternatively, "A Ritual To Read To Each Other" and "On The Promise Of A Blue Sky" works within folkish grooves, a good context for the elegant banshee wailing of James O Sullivan's electric guitar. The lyrics are mainly Hyland's own, but also draw on poetry by Anais Nin and William Stafford. "Bric-a-Brac" is a bitter-sweet gem by Dorothy Parker. Hyland can turn on a sixpence from fierce to ethereal, or high-pitched and righteously bonkers ("The Hushed Bud"), but rarely sinks into folk predictability. There are whiffs of Julie Tippetts in the vocals, and Mark Hollis or David Sylvian in the musical approach. Though to mention those two perfectionists is to underline the low-key production of Clang Sayne - this is a set of live, organic, no-safety-net performances. Occasionally I found myself in full support of Hyland's method while frustrated by opaque lyrics ("Lady Grey's Allotment"), but there is something exhilarating about this modest yet perverse album and its refusal to conform.
Clive Bell