You may or may not have heard yourself some Georgie James, a group whose sound I enjoyed most when Laura Burhenn's voice was showcased on tracks like "Cake Parade" and "Long Week." I was thinking the other day about how much I like those songs and got to wondering what Burhenn's been up to. Guess what? She has a new band! With an album that was released in April, What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood.
What We Lose in the Fire, a collaboration with Richard Swift, is a little less indie pop than Georgie James and a lot more soul, complete with motownesque back-up vocals in songs like "Numbers Don't Lie." To be fair, I've cherry-picked the more lively tracks on the album here. Songs like "Give it Time" and "What We Gain in the Fire" involve a little less hip-shaking than "Let the Record Go," a little more bluesy swaying, a few less beat-stopping ohs and a little more emotional crooning. But I am a sucker for those beat-stopping ohs in "Let the Record Go," and for Burhenn's heartfelt "I gave it all of mine." This song is catchy; the chorus achieves that heady-claustrophobic feeling of being caught in a round of a high-pitched, high-speed "This is the song that never ends," but in both these songs Burhenn knows just how to slow us down and pick us back up again. The videos are striking, too, the bright colors popping against washed out background neutrals, the playful narratives indulging in a bit of the irony that the music itself completely avoids. The soul bent here is sultry and not imitative, so the visuals, particularly in "Numbers Don't Lie," hit me as a surprising pairing for Burhenn's thick voice, but really are charming. The Mynabirds album feels like Burhenn laying out her cards, confident all along in her surprise hand.
Okay, I don't play poker, and we all know Corey is the music guru around these parts. Maybe Spencer Krug and Laura Burhenn should get together for some kind of amazing "wuh-oh-oh" collaboration. Yes please?
--Megan
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