Shannon Lay shares 5th album ‘Past The Veil’
The singer-songwriter has released her latest album.
★★★★☆
Photo: Press
“Bring us back to reality, bring us back to love…” Just like that, we are in. We have fallen into Shannon Lay’s majestic, swooning whirlwind of sound and for the next forty minutes there will be no escape. Shannon Lay’s fifth solo album ‘Past The Veil’ is a startling and powerful record full of ethereal, lush sounds and mesmerising, sweeping songs. Lay, an acclaimed folk artist and member of the band ‘Feels’, says that ‘Past The Veil’ is inspired by “literal and metaphorical hellfire (the Altadena and Pacific Palisades fires of January 2025; the entirety of Trump’s second term in office).”
Alongside this, Lay left her previous record label to run her new artist-run label All The Best, which she says “inspired her to lean into trusting herself and her community.” Alongside her own music, Lay intends to release her friend’s music too. All of this is to say that the scope for Lay’s latest album is equally as ambitious as it is incredibly personal. Past The Veil certainly hits the mark. It is simply full of grand, majestic songs with swooning, mesmerising vocals to top it all off.
The album opener Moving is a perfect introduction to the album; it is a slow, introspective and incredibly moving lament and really sets the tone for what’s to come. Lead single Horizons is a particular highlight. It worms its way into your head with elegance and grace. Musically, it’s understated and lets Lay’s gorgeous vocal and piano melodies carry much of the weight of the song. Lyrically, the song is a celebration of all the unique things that make us human. Lay says that the song “is a reminder to be authentic. We all have a unique perspective, and that’s what makes this whole experience so interesting.”
Lay’s vocals absolutely explode out of the speakers all over Past The Veil. She has an incredible command over her voice and her vocals really are the centrepiece that this record and her songs revolve around. It is full of the same kind of dramatic tenor of Angel Olsen’s vocals but with flourishes of Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny-inspired folk inflexions.
The album is another in the line of big, dramatic yet reflective songwriter records in much the same style as Weyes Blood’s fantastic recent albums. These songs are full of interesting sonic textures that are smooth and ethereal but always endlessly engaging. There are all sorts of creative sounds washing together to sweep over you within these songs. It all just sounds wonderful.
Past The Veil is an ambitious, grand and beautiful collection of songs. Listening to it feels distinctly spiritual. It’s an album in the truest sense of the world and listening in full is an absolute necessity. In a world where everything is always so fast, sometimes it just feels so wonderful to slow down.
Tracklist:
1. Moving
2. What Does It Mean
3. Honest Man
4. The Calling
5. Past The Veil
6. Whom Gods Destroy
7. Horizons
8. Room For Less
9. Sky Song
10. I Need More Water
Past The Veil is out now via All The Best.
