Fort Defiance
The Haunts of Youth
Reviewed by: Jane Roser
Their first album since officially becoming a duo band, husband and wife Americana performers Jordan Eastman and Laurel Lane aka Fort Defiance, offer up fourteen timeless songs drenched in wit, candor and raw emotion.
The Haunts of Youth‘s opening track “Shadows Through A Canyon” explores the finality of a relationship which is fraught with miscommunication and doubt. I love the comparison of how couples tend to let withered love stretch out “like shadows through a canyon” until it blurs and disappears. It’s a somber, poetic song that most anyone can relate to.
Delving into themes of fears, imperfections, addiction and infidelity, The Haunts of Youth‘s stand out track for me is the charming, yet heartbreaking “Maybe Things Will Make Sense When We’re Grown” which follows a couple from childhood to death and is delivered with grace and grit. Lane’s distinctive, earthy voice is reminiscent of Iris DeMent and harmonizes well with Eastman’s classic, country-tinged vocals.
The Haunts of Youth gives a voice to the heart-in all its complexity, anguish, fragility and ability to love unconditionally, no matter the cost.
Rating: Bad-Ass
