‘Grief is love with no place to go’
Laura Reznek’s live show in support of her new album The Sewing Room was living testament to the quote. LOUD WOMEN had the pleasure of reviewing the album recently, and in the magical setting of The Old Church at St Pancras, Laura and her band made the album come alive in the presence of other humans to share the emotions with.
Entropies @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Entropies @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Entropies @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Entropies @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Entropies @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Entropies @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Entropies @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Entropies @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Entropies @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne
First up were Entropies, the live trio of Sheida Kiran on vocals and piano, Emilia Pearce on cello and Sophie Sanford on violin set the scene, in a space with acoustics to die for. They are a cinematic musical project, adapting songs they have composed for Sheida Kiran’s documentary films, including Turkey’s Earthquake: Those Who Stayed a documentary about the aftermath of the Turkish Earthquake and the human stories around it, which you can currently catch on BBC iPlayer.
Their music is a combination of neo-classical and ambient pop, which in their own words ‘preserve human stories in live sound and moving image.’
The songs included post earthquake stories about, a woman who walked the streets singing after she had lost her love, a mother comforting her son, anger at the hopelessness of the situation, all the emotions beautifully accentuated with at time soaring, and at times gentle strings and ethereal and powerful vocals and piano. I’m looking forward to listening to their EP, which comes out later.
Follow Entropies Website | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube
Laura Reznek @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Laura Reznek @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Laura Reznek @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Laura Reznek @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Laura Reznek @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Laura Reznek @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Laura Reznek @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Laura Reznek @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Laura Reznek @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Laura Reznek @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne 
Laura Reznek @ St Pancras Old Church by Magda Campagne
Laura came onto stage to rapturous applause, as if the audience knew what a special night it would be. Laura and her band played all the songs from The Sewing Room album as well as ‘Rattling Chains’, ‘You are Bad’ and ‘Collectors’ from her previous album Agrimony.
Opener ‘Yacht Rock’ started simply on solo acoustic guitar and voice and morphed into full band joining her on stage including drums, bass, piano, three backing singers one of whom played the banjo.
‘Golden Child’ was next up, and gave Taylor Swift and Joni Mitchell vibes, with lyrical imagery and storytelling about childhood memories, combined with an upbeat music and rhythmic guitar.
Multi-instrumentalist Laura then moved to the piano and was joined by Sophie and Emilia from Entropies on, ‘Physical Education’, which railed at the unfairness of not being allowed to play hockey in 4th grade. ‘You Are Bad’ and ‘Collector followed with Laura solo on her piano, filling the church hall with her emotive vocals and piano playing.
The full band came back for ‘Leap Year’, which Laura explained she had the first half written before and the second half after a major life event.
‘Spades’ another single from the album, was rhythmically melodic and catchy and with the full band of eleven including Sophie and Emilia from Entropies and a trombonist who played a lovely trombone solo, turned into an epic song.
In her own words:
Spades’ explores the fragmented memories that arise after a major life event, a melding of past and present. It’s a sense of trying to untangle the two and come to terms with what is.
‘Endeavours’ was one of the emotional highlights of the night. Laura explained that it was the first song she wrote after her father died by suicide and she could not write songs for a while. She also told us why the venue had special significance for her, as her Dad had watched her perform there a few years ago.
The last song of the night was ‘The Centre’, a stomper of a song further delving into childhood memories to help make sense of the present.
The new album deals with grief, through rich storytelling and a mesmerising musical background and what we felt in the room tonight was love.
Stream The Sewing Room on Spotify.
Follow Laura Reznek on Website | Instagram | YouTube