It’s hard to believe Meg Baird has anything left in her. Her Bandcamp discography stretches back to 2007—ancient history in the San Francisco scene. Plenty of artists have given up in less time (or worse, moved to LA) but Meg marches on with a voice like a mourning veil and an ear for the gentle and sublime. And that’s to say nothing of her established cred in collaborations with indie folk luminaries like Mary Lattimore and supergroup Heron Oblivion.
Her first new album in seven years, Furling is an unexpectedly upbeat addition to her catalog. Ditching some (keyword: “some”) of the darkness that stalks her previous records, Furling cautiously folds in shimmering, bright sounds on tracks like the softly cycling “Twelve Saints,” and, ironically, “The Saddest Verses,” even approaching a straightforward rock beat on “Will You Follow Me Home?” It is slightly more complex in production than previous releases, and a little less tuneful than we’re used to, but it still continues in that Meg Baird tradition: mystical and transporting with airy vocals used sparingly.
