Laura Ryder Ampersand - Vestigial Album Review

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Vestigial

Vestigial is the debut album from Castlebar native Laura Ryder. The album follows on the heels of Laura's self recorded debut EP "Haiku" which was released to high praise early in 2016. Laura has now recruited a full band for this album hence the Ampersand addition.

The album opener "Changed" has a poptastic quirky melody which both delights and enthrals you from the outset.
The full band sound is evident on "Kerbs" with some beautiful piano and thunderous drums. The backing vocals really shine through also.
Laura's unique voice is a joy to listen to and no more so than on the track "No Romantics". This is probably the best song on the album with it's alluring characteristics.
"Chalk" is another brilliant song from the album. It's not often you will hear top quality clicking on an album but Laura Ryder delivers here.
The violin is the star of the show on the album's longest track "Soda Pressing". "Siren Song" is by far the most sombre song from the album with it's pensive, minimalistic guitar and strong, raw vocals full of emotion.
The album closes out with "Sea Legs" which is a downbeat almost sea shanty-esque song.

At 32 minutes, Vestigial is a relatively short album but Laura Ryder Ampersand manage to pack a hell of a lot of quality into every single one of those 32 minutes. A very enjoyable debut album which opens up the platform for Laura to take her sound to a bigger and wider audience in the very near future.

Take a listen to the album here:
Laura Ryder Ampersand - Vestigial Spotify

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