Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The candles that stand on the tables inside Leaf flicker with eager anticipation. The small draught that comes and goes as the lift that sits at the back of the hall above the clanking tea pots, the smell of food being cooked and conversations that had at the heart of them been spirited questions of the Scottish Referendum winds itself open to let out yet another selection of fans in time to see Laura James deliver a set that sat happily and comfortably with an enraptured audience.

This young woman from Carlisle took the crowd, who had been entertained fully by the talent of Little Sparrow and her band earlier in the evening, on a journey that seemed on one level a spiritual journey for her but also one in which the smile never once left her face, the beautiful songs that she had written and released complimented her, and her band’s demeanour throughout.

With Jamie Turner on keys, Andrew Stride on drums and Ben Eckersley on cello accompanying Ms. James, the set was something in which to enjoy and which the crowd could palpably see that the former L.I.P.A. student had worked so hard to make sure was right for the occasion and in which the guitar and voice were so finely tuned that Sir Chris Hoy would have failed to come close to beating even with a head start and Laura’s instrument of choice being blindfolded to even up the score.

With Laura’s first E.P. being released, the music that made the candle light seem eerily welcoming and repelled the growing shadows back to their borders, captivated and cajoled with a sweet taste of a voice that could convert the bitterness of tears into a beam so wide that it could land an aeroplane flying on one engine safely onto a crowded runway. With songs such as the opener The Water, the superb In The Book, the beautiful song that forms the E.P., Every Little Amber, Kites, the excellent Sleep Talker and the touching Rooftops, there was so much to praise Ms. James with that it would perhaps cause an embarrassment of riches if not handled properly.

Evenings are too precious to waste, in Laura James headline gig at Leaf, the evening was packed and enjoyable. Long may this young woman grow in stature!

Ian D. Hall