London-based singer/songwriter
Laura Welsh had a long road to her debut full-length
Soft Control, starting out first in 2010 under a series of various monikers such as
Hey Laura and
Laura & the Tears before deciding on her given name. The album finds
Welsh in a mesh of influences that include the haunted pop of
Annie Lennox, muted R&B backdrops, and vocal similarities to contemporaries such as
Adele,
Jessie Ware, or
Florence + the Machine. Production assistance and guest spots come from
Lightspeed Champion's
Dev Hynes on the ghostly "Unravel" as well as a vocal cameo by
John Legend on the slinky midtempo romp that is "Hardest Part." ~ Fred Thomas