If Laura Groves is a name you don’t initially recognize, then maybe you are familiar with her former moniker, Blue Roses. When Groves was barely in her 20s, she put out her then-self-titled album Blue Roses through XL Recordings in 2009 and it was a great portrait of romanticized youth—a project that enacted a proper balance between the adventurous bends of life and its coiling, sometimes insurmountable, downswings. She put forth great singer/songwriter harmonies back then, conjuring flickers of Joanna Newsom and Judee Sill atop a bed of lush, plucked and subdued soundscapes. Now, 14 years later, Groves has returned—this time, under her own name. Her latest offering, Radio Red, is a triumphant display of how wide a creative palette can stretch.
The London songwriter has a unique approach to her own world-building and characterization. Radio Red is a folk album in spirit, yes,…
