“She sounds like the Staves,” Diane exclaimed halfway through “Casual,” the latest single from Irish singer-songwriter Laura Elizabeth Hughes.
Lest there be any doubt, that’s high praise in our household—though, this day, we weren’t at home but in the car, headed to a supersized grocery store some 25 minutes away. The sweet harmonies of the sisters Staveley-Taylor, who we saw in concert at the World Cafe Live in 2017, linger large in our collective memory, so much so that other collaborative chorals often conjure them. And make no mistake: LEH’s new song is rife with such magic. Voices rise and fall together and apart on the chorus, swooping here, there and everywhere—though they may all be one, aka her own, overdubbed.
Of the song: She explained in an Instagram post that the lyrics are about longing for the carefree summers of youth, when day-in, day-out demands and responsibilities were the domain of parents, not kids. It’s her “Goin’ Back,” if you will.
To return to the top, Diane’s “Casual” commentary led us to play a mix of LEH’s past works for the remainder of the ride to the store and again on the return trip home, including the recent (and equally wonderful) “Another Side of Conversation” single and three-song EP she released in 2021, We, Myself, I. At her best, she’s an enchantress who casts spells through captivating songs. One hopes that “Casual” and “Another Side of Conversation” are the first volleys of an album-length endeavor (though an EP will suffice).
The Old Grey Cat 
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