CAROL LAULA: “Precious Little Victories” (Iona)

WHY SHE’S not a major star I’ll never know, because Carl Laula has more talent in her little finger than most of her contemporaries, with the possible exception of Kate Bush and Rosalie Sorrels.

Laula’s songs – on the last album Still – and on this quietly magnificent piece of work are bittersweet observations on life’s vagaries, short news and feature pieces condensed into three or four-minute segments, songs which work all the better for the simple, uncluttered approach adopted by Laula, who produced the album herself.

The album’s feel is largely acoustic, with guitars, fiddles, violas and cellos creating the aura around Laula’s seductive yet forceful tones. Her musings on subjects like love, deja vu and the dysfunctional family – in ‘Silent Watching Daughter’ – have a new power and menace, an effect achieved mainly through her economy with words. Not a syllable is wasted.

The absolute standout track, though, has to be ‘Little Anthony’, a devastating piece about an unwanted child, all the more chilling because of its bare-to-the-bones backdrop of guitar and harmonica. This is the kind of song that should be on English Literature courses in our schools.

It’s a small label, which may well mean that it won’t get the kind of exposure given to the likes of Lisa Stansfield or Diana Ross, but I tell you this – if there have been many stronger statements from women artists this year, lead me to them.

Tender are visceral by turn, Precious Little Victories is one of the year’s most impressive and significant releases.

• Oliver P. Sweeney