22-year-old Southampton star Laurel has been a blogger’s favourite for quite some time now, really hitting her stride with her piano-meets-synth sonnets on the Holy Water EP. However, here’s a tip for you - forget everything you’ve already heard. Although coming from the same source and under the same name, new track ‘Maybe Baby’ and by extension the forthcoming EP showcases an entirely new artistic direction. Or should that be a return to the original one? Laurel brings her first musical love, the guitar, back into the mix as heard through the spiky strings, melodic fuzz and a smattering a pretty frets. On a listening front it was inspired by fringe-rock heroes Talking Heads and Sonic Youth, but on a personal level, this track details a fear of living an unfulfilled life, of being too comfortable and by consequence missing out on opportunities that taking risks leads one to. ‘Maybe Baby’ is a hesitantly titled track that’s nothing short of confident and marks an exciting band-driven era for Laurel. Look out for the release of Park EP on November 18. - HT