Composer, singer-songwriter, and saxophonist Laura Misch released the stunning album ‘Lithic’ in the summer. I’ve yet to write the review for it, but the short version is it’s the best alternative jazz album I’ve heard in years. Laura’s voice is smooth and soulful, and her saxophone is omnipresent but never overpowering. The album is structured around stone, water, and soil. Laura spent time recording samples in quarries, caves, cliffs, and pebble deserts to bring the elements to life. It is largely an introspective album that documents a sonic landscape and history of our planet. It’s not all field recordings and bluesy saxophone with ambient drones, though, as rhythms and beats drive an electronic and natural percussive pulse through the elements, too.
Laura Misch has been touring the album with electronics, keys, looping pedals, cello, violin, harp, shruti box, and drums. This resulted in a live album available for streaming and purchase, and now a video recording of Lithic live. Entitled ‘Lithic (Live at the Barbican)’, the album is reordered and reimagined with organic instruments. Field recordings are still present, such as the opener ‘Cave Drops’, which allows the performers to enter the stage whilst terrorising anyone who needs the toilet when they hear water splashing. Elsewhere, the hazy glow of the lights let the live distortion effects on Laura’s sax solo title track sound vast and panoramic. The strings and drums pound a sweaty pulse on ‘kairos’, whilst ‘Siren’ sounds like a lost Kiasmos track that Ólafur Arnalds would have killed for.
This is a superb hour of live music, blending artistry, audiovisual lighting design, and some damn great performances. Laura Misch – Lithic (Live at the Barbican) is available to buy on Bandcamp. Laura is still on tour in Europe throughout 2026. Visit Laura Misch’s website for tour dates.
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