Laura Cox: Trouble Coming Review
From ‘Singin’ songs about the Southland’ in her bedroom to becoming a YouTube sensation and securing spots on some of the biggest festival stages, including Download and Hellfest, Laura Cox is the very definition of an Anglo-French guitar hero. While the Partisan people may be known for their poetic turn of phrase and perfect pastries, the Cox charisma and lean, mean guitar-driven sound hoists the flag for the no-nonsense, not for the faint-hearted, Full English camp.
Only this time, everything is a little crisper, louder, looser, and darker around the skin, as Cox explores the disconcerted side of the mind, especially when it comes to the addiction, loneliness, and depression that mars many musicians on tour.
Even though Laura has admitted she’s in a really good place in her life right now, it’s fascinating to see how she goes about taking an artist’s psyche apart (as well as her guitar!). But it’s Cox’s ability to command so many different styles in such a short space of time that’s most impressive.
Trouble Coming clocks in at just 36 minutes, but there’s enough firepower and genuine Gibson chops to make the neighbours stop what they’re doing. The punchy “No Need To Try Harder” kicks the record off with its raunchy AC/DC Bon-Scott era boogie, slide chops, and a cool harmony chorus crying out for radio play. Beneath the Southern hard rock swagger is a beautiful reminder to just be and enjoy the ride.
“Do I Have Your Attention?” is another blast of big sound, grandstand vocals, and pure excitement, complete with a slick, crisp guitar solo, before Laura takes us to Louisiana on the bluesy title track “Trouble Coming.” It’s smokey, gutsy, and led by a narrative style vocal interspersed with a hypnotic, deep beat.
“Dancing Around The Truth” with its rumbling bass and distorted riff is more pop rock with a punk smile, while the clap-along beat and swift guitar breakaway further fuels the hard rocking delirium. Laura even replaces her Gibson with a banjo on the from-the-heart ballad “Out Of The Blue, while showing a gentle touch in resisting the urge to overplay.” It’s a rare moment of musical calm on an album that’s built on the excess and thrill of planting your foot on the accelerator and deciding how you’ll react once ‘the damage’ is done.
Cox is a multi-instrumentalist, sultry vocalist (check out the smoldering, dark rock gem “What Do You Know?”), and a steely, emotional guitarist with the ability to turn anywhere she wants. While this comes with the risk of turning something liberating into potentially self-destructive, Cox has shifted through the gears without the slightest whiff of trouble.
The Review: 8/10
