July Flame is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Laura Veirs, released on January 12, 2010.
The title comes from a type of peach Veirs saw at a farmer's market.[1]Jim James of American rock band My Morning Jacket contributes falsetto harmonies on several tracks, including "Carol Kaye" which is a tribute to the so named bass guitarist.[1]
Reviews of July Flame were favorable. The Independent called it an "obliquely beautiful record, as they tend to be. Poetic and simple".[4]The New York Times said it is "full of layered folk and indie-rock bucolia and plain-spoken but stretchy-thinking language" and "there are some great, seemingly unforced, séancelike moments here".[5]The Guardian praised the album as "so extravagantly beautiful that it will send you scurrying back to its predecessors".[6]Entertainment Weekly wrote that the album "sends us on hikes through dreamy landscapes evoked by her uniquely tangy voice, casting minimal instrumentation in glistening arrangements to captivate the melancholy imagination."[7]Paste proclaimed that the album is Veirs' "finest work", and said "It's hard to imagine a better soundtrack to the chilly months than this collection of heady, steady, pensive songs".[8]
Track listing
All tracks written by Laura Veirs
"I Can See Your Tracks" – 2:58
"July Flame" – 3:45
"Sun Is King" – 3:20
"Where Are You Driving?" – 2:53
"Life Is Good Blues" – 2:35
"Silo Song" – 2:39
"Little Deschutes" – 4:06
"Summer Is the Champion" – 4:25
"When You Give Your Heart" – 3:05
"Sleeper in the Valley" – 4:02
"Wide-Eyed, Legless" – 2:35
"Carol Kaye" – 3:20
"Make Something Good" – 4:14
Personnel
Laura Veirs – lead vocals, guitars, banjo, piano, bass guitar
Tucker Martine – drums, percussion, piano and backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–6, 8, 10)
Karl Blau – bass guitar, piano, strings, electric guitar, organ, saxophone and backing vocals (tracks 2–8, 12–13)
Jon Neufeld – guitars and backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–6, 9, 10, 12)
Guest musicians
Chris Funk – pedal steel guitar, twelve-string guitar, autoharp and mandolin (tracks 3, 8 and 9)
Jim James – vocals (tracks 1, 3, 6 and 12)
Eyvind Kang – viola (tracks 2, 4, 6, 9 and 11)
Scott Magee – bass clarinet (track 11)
Steve Moore – piano and electric piano, lowry organ, synths, loops and bells (tracks 4, 8, 10 and 11)
Victor Nash – vibraphone, trumpet (tracks 3 and 8)
Nate Query – upright bass (track 11)
Annalisa Tornfelt – backing vocals (tracks 2 and 13)