Indie/Americana singer-songwriter Lara Taubman is set to release her new album, The Gospel of Getting Free, which reveals her unique sound, a blend of Americana, soul, bluegrass, and junkyard country, as well as gospel-inspired folk music.
The Gospel of Getting Free, which will be released on June 21 via Atomic Sound, tells her story from a renewed, refreshed, and positive perspective.
Taubman explains, “The same ideas that drove me to write the songs for ‘The Gospel of Getting Free’ also helped me come up with the songs for the first two albums. What distinguishes this album from the last two are two things. First, I feel more mentally healthy than I ever have. Last summer I began working with somatic therapy for trauma and it changed my life quickly. I immediately wanted more hope in the music as expressed in the songs ‘The Reason I Was Born’ and ‘Sing Your Song.”’ Even the songs that are about dark matters like addiction (‘Sugar’) and heartbreak (‘The Odyssey’) carry a sense of humor and an inner hope instead of despair.”
Taubman started out working in the arts as a visual artist and critic. After a period in the wilds of Montana, she was inspired to start creating music, drawing on her passion for artists like Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith, and David Byrne as well as her bluegrass-fed childhood in coal country in Virginia.
In 2015, Taubman began writing music and, after fine-tuning her sound, released her debut long player, Revelation in 2020, followed by two more albums in 2022.
In 2023 she started a vintage garment rental company called Lara Sings Vintage. It is a collection of clothing that she amassed over 40 years.
Of the ten tracks on the album, high points from a purely subjective viewpoint include “The Siren,” which opens on soft, plucking notes flowing into a low-slung, pushing-lite rhythm topped by Taubman’s deliciously distinctive vocals – vaguely reminiscent of and falling somewhere between Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins. There’s a translucent delicacy to her voice, velvety yet oh-so alluring.
A personal favorite because of its Peter, Paul and Mary-like surfaces, “Assyrian King” is an opulent gem of a song. Whereas a Latin sway ripples through the dark colors of “Sugar,” infusing it with a wicked, sensual feel.
The title track, flavored with gentle, gleaming tones, glides on a luscious, syncopated rhythm as Taubman’s magical vocals imbue the lyrics with smooth, crystalline hues. A bluesy rocker with hints of country, “Sing Your Song” closes the album out with stylish aplomb.
The Gospel of Getting Free goes beyond a collection of songs. Rather it resembles a series of charming short stories set to music.
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