What makes a concept album a true concept album? Does it need an elaborate narrative that winds its way through every track, or can it just be a collection of songs with a loose theme? Milwaukee country/folk/rock duo Laura Petersen And The Old Souls have called their debut record Separation a “concept album that explores disconnection in relationships.” It definitely falls on the “loose theme” end of the concept album spectrum, but it’s a unified creation nonetheless.
Not that the songs fall into one genre category. Opener “Forged In The Fire” is a smoldering folk-rock waltz that finds Petersen and partner in crime Elliot Killian cooking up a tale of early love/lust. Later, the duo mines a more classic rock sound on tracks like “Friction” and “Sinking In,” and deliver a plaintive piano ballad in “Lonely.” Best of all, however, is when Petersen and Killian go full-on country: “Show Him The Door” is a Shania-esque rave-up, and closer “Just A Little More Sufferin'” is a crowd-pleasing bluegrass ditty, complete with fiddle.
Separation features a cast of stellar supporting musicians—Ernest Brusubardis IV from Chicken Wire Empire and Kevin Rowe of Buffalo Gospel among them—but it’s the Petersen-Killian dynamic that carries the day. And what is that dynamic, exactly? A bio explains:
When Laura Petersen, an emotive singer-songwriter who had previously released a solo album with Nashville producer Bobby Campbell, met Elliot Killian, a guitar player who had previously played with the power metal band Lords of the Trident, their connection was immediate, both musically and romantically.
Inspired and enthused by each other, and desiring more creative freedom, they embarked on the ambitious project of self-producing their debut album but soon found themselves in for a rude awakening.
Both had experienced major life turning points and losses prior to meeting. Petersen had suffered a challenging divorce, and Killian had left medical school and the securities of being a doctor; both in a deep search for truth, freedom, and love.
As the duo revisited the songs, largely conceived by Petersen before meeting, the couple found themselves uncomfortably reliving some of the song’s difficult themes as they struggled to strike a balance between their professional musical ambitions and personal relationship—coming to the stark realization that before they’d get to live their dreams they’d have to heal the past they thought they’d left behind.
The making of Separation took seven years of unforeseen growing pains, both in the studio and in their lives, with each area bleeding into the other. Had they not committed to and believed in the project, their exploration of darkness may never have seen the light of day. However, the prospects of seeing it through to completion and sharing the fruits of the journey left the couple with no choice but to peel away the layers of baggage they’d brought to the relationship.
“If you get too close, there’s no going back,” Petersen sings on “Forged In The Fire.” That’s the concept behind Separation—and, it seems, behind Laura Petersen And The Old Souls themselves.
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