Lara Taubman
Revelation
(Wolfe Island Records)

Lara Taubman, the New York-based “Outlaw” folk musician (I’m not sure what the outlaw tag means though) presents her new 9-song album Revelation.

Opening with fiddle, piano, and banjo thickening a sweet bed for the story-song opener, “Sound of Heartbreak,” we get lots of Taubaman’s strong and loud pipes. “Desert Boy” follows, a slow tune informed mainly by upright bass, organ, and piano, creating a perfect country ballad.

The blues twang-loud snare of “Heartbreak Garden,” and the bass pump (and great snapping snare again) of “Hookup,” get things rockin’ nicely. This heavier edge mid-way of Revelation is very welcomed by the time we get them. They represent a double-hit breath-of-fresh-air that opens up the production and give us a bit of a break to Taubman’s slightly cloying vocal. The lady can sing, that’s for damn sure, but the production here brings her a little too far forward and overbearing in the mix at times, in my opinion, as if to prove what a good singer she is. When she explores the layers of what she can do though, it’s those times I feel, that are much better.

We get mandolin leading Taubman’s warble on “Akureyri,” a mountain-country sounding song and the odd, but very effective “Snakes in the Snow,” has a Middle-Eastern swirl to the legend-like story of the lyric. It almost ends the album. The title track ends this collection, with Taubman singing over a plucked acoustic guitar, and some simple production behind her.