Maria Taylor doesn’t get lucky with her latest, “Ladyluck.”
Known for her angelic voice and soothing indie rock jams, is no stranger to great albums. Her solo debut (after her Azure Ray days) “11:11” was an instant classic — an album so vulnerable and lovely and powerful that it stood out from most of the other records released in 2005.
Taylor’s third solo full-length — and her first post-Saddle Creek Records release — doesn’t fare so well. The singer-songwriter worked with longtime friend/collaborator Andy LeMaster, and while there are some nice moments in many of the songs, few of them stand on their own as solid tracks.
Single “Time Lapse Lifeline” has a winning verse or two, but ultimately the song sounds like selections from Taylor’s back catalog. And while the countrified “Cartoons and Forever Plans” (written by Taylor, LeMaster and R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe, who also adds backing vocals) is the stylistic deviant of the group, it sounds odd, if incomplete, tagged there at the end of the record.
Ricardo Baca is the founder and co-editor of and an award-winning critic and journalist at The Denver Post. He is also the executive director of the , Colorado’s premier festival of local music. Follow his whimsies at , his live music habit at and his iTunes addictions at .
