Album Review: Laura Jean - Devotion

There are some artists whose genius bubbles away quietly while their peers noisily clamour for some spotlight, giving we the listeners almost a smug sense of ownership over their songs because we happened to be one of the first in the know.

Sydney-born, Melbourne-based Laura Jean is one such artist. This pop folkster has been making very beautiful and interesting music for more than a decade, dishing up a humble serving of complex, poetic releases since 2006's haunting debut Our Swan Song. Jean's latest is a further extension of her raw talent and it could very well be her best work yet.

It's Jean's insightfulness into many situations that is the most rewarding thing to be had here. She's an old soul in a young body, offering captivating observations with her wordsmithery and the way she wraps so much musicality into each moment with minimal instrumentation. Opener Press Play and Lick Your Heart do this ably, with lush keys and percussive guitars. But Jean also knows how to craft a body-mover; Girls On The TV rocking some buzzing '80s synth swells and her high warble and Which One Are You? nimbly fusing noodling guitars with string flourishes.