L’Âge d’Or

One of the key Western artistic concerns of the 19th century was the positioning of poets as spiritual leaders, equal to the previously incomparable religious prophets and apostles. Charles Baudelaire and the symbolists wrote traditional verse poetry in highly literary French; the neo-folk songs of Karen Lano do the same thing from the perspective of a 21st-century woman. Through her soft, closely controlled voice, and to a backing of subtle percussion, vocal harmonies and the occasional horn, Lano explores themes of nature (‘L’Oiseau Blanc’), feminine spirituality (‘Déesse’) and existentialism (‘Seule dans la Danse’) with what seems like a genuine curiosity and openness. Spellbinding finger-picked rhythms and vocal phrasing in keeping with the rules of classical French verse place Lano within a lineage that harks back to medieval romance poetry, making L’Âge d’Or a golden third recording from a songwriter of real depth.