Laura Perrudin - Poisons & Antidotes

The Guardian 80

(Volatine/Wrasse)

It will be intriguing to see how this maverick French musician re-creates her extraordinary second album at a London jazz festival event on 19 November. Perrudin makes every sound here, using her voice and a custom-made chromatic harp: her vocals are often multi-layered into audacious harmonies, while the harp can sound like any number of instruments. On Inks and Auguries of Innocence, she bangs it with a mallet to create junkyard hip-hop beats; on Diurnal Fireflies and Ghosts, her woozy tangle of low chords recalls Thundercat’s six-string bass guitar; on Train, the tumbling phrases sound like an African kora. Best of all is the clipped, Erykah Badu-ish neo soul of The Ceiling’s Maze, where Perrudin’s harp sounds like D’Angelo’s guitar, playing clipped phrases over a sluggish J Dilla-style vocal breakbeat. Such versatility could easily become a variety-show gimmick, but Perrudin’s strong melodies and poetic imagery make each song uniquely compelling.