Laura Veirs’ seventh album July Flame, which Colin Meloy calls “the best album of 2010,” explores the emotion of mid-summer. Drenched in wood smoke, sunlight, pollinators, pastoral dales, fireworks and warm nights, her lyrics explore the dichotomy between one’s desire for permanence and security and the realization that such things rarely exist. Nowhere on the album is this inherent tension more crystallized than on the title track.

TRACKLIST: 1. I Can See Your Tracks 2. July Flame 3. Sun Is King 4. Where Are You Driving? 5. Life Is Good Blues 6. Silo Song 7. Little Deschutes 8. Summer Is The Champion 9. When You Give Your Heart 10. Sleeper In The Valley 11. Wide-Eyed, Legless 12. Carol Kaye 13. Make Something Good