Colorado-born singer/songwriter Laura Veirs has forged a career singing personal songs of romantic intoxication, everyday vignettes, and occasional social commentary that are often heavy on introspection and intense character scrutiny. Her vocals and melodies rapidly shift and veer, up and down her wide vocal range. Veirs made her debut in 1999, releasing a self-titled CD, recorded live and featuring just her and guitar. Heading to a proper studio for her next release, The Triumphs & Travails of Orphan Mae, it too was self-released (though it eventually saw greater distribution after British label Bella Union reissued it in 2005). 2003 brought the release of Troubled by the Fire, a full-band effort that found the artist sharing the studio with such luminaries as Bill Frisell, Amy Denio, and Fred Chalenor. She signed to Nonesuch the following year and recorded the atmospheric Carbon Glacier, followed by Year of Meteors in August of 2005 and Saltbreakers in 2007.nn Veirs returned to her folk-leaning roots with 2010's July Flame and switched gears again the following year with Tumble Bee, drawing on the American songbook to create her first-ever children's record. In the summer of 2013, she released Warp & Weft, a collection of primarily original material produced by her husband, Tucker Martine. In 2015, Veirs contributed vocals to acclaimed albums by Sufjan Stevens (Carrie and Lowell) and the Decemberists (What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World). In 2016, Veirs collaborated with celebrated vocalists and songwriters Neko Case and k.d. lang for the critically lauded trio album case/lang/veirs. Following up in early 2018, Veirs issued her tenth solo outing, The Lookout, a thematic collection based on the fragility of precious things. Once again produced by Martine, the album featured guest vocals from Sufjan Stevens and Jim James. ~ Richie Unterberger