Laura Barrett – Victory Garden (Paper Bag)

It’s rather obvious that Laura studied linguistics at university as she packs an astounding amount of lyrics into her songs. She’s truly on par with some of the most verbose rappers. Thankfully the word ‘ho’ has been jettisoned for the less offensive, multi-syllabic “rapscallion” on Chidiya. Album opener Wood Between Worlds with it’s hauntingly beautiful kalimba and string parts sounds like it should be playing during a dream sequence in an art house film.

Unlike her Earth Sciences EP, which kept my attention pretty well throughout, Victory Garden tends to drags through the middle. A who’s who of Toronto indie musicians as guest contributors couldn’t break the monotony of the record. Thankfully things pick up near the end with Escape to the Sun Dome which had me running to the dictionary (winnow: to rid of undesirable parts) and the Adorables-esque Theremin jam, Rien a declarer which rocks in both official languages. Victory Garden is not an outright victory, but worth a listen if you like Laura or any of her many other bands.