Year of Meteors

With its brooding intellectualism, intricate arrangements, and clever wordplay, Laura Veirs' 2004 debut on Nonesuch, Carbon Glacier, found its way on to a great many critic's "best-of" lists (and rightfully so). The Seattle-based singer/songwriter once again pays homage to her geology background with Years of Meteors, a diverse collection of meandering pop songs that parallel her most recent European/American tour. Transience is the common theme here, and Veirs sets her enviable verbal skills to task on standout tracks like "Magnetize," "Parisian Dream," and "Secret Someone" -- the latter boasts a divine bit of travel-weary imagery: "A smile would melt me to an asphalt strip/where all would travel/where all would tread and trip." As with Glacier, Veirs employs her trusted backup band, the Tortured Souls, to flesh out the material. Led by drummer/producer Tucker Martine, they sound like a tightly knit group now, trading tasteful licks and never overplaying. Flashes of viola, upright bass, and ultra-compressed percussion float in and out like a less-stylized version of the Suzanne Vega's 1992 Mitchell Froom-produced 99.9 F°. That Veirs manages to keep the mood so sparse while so much is going on is impressive in its own right, but it's that old reliable brooding intellectualism, the intricate arrangements, and the clever wordplay that will keep listeners glued to each and every track.