Laura Cox - 'Trouble Coming'

Rock Metal Machine
Oct 23
2 min read

Having revisited her last three albums, I can confidently say that this is her best release to date.

Woman playing a red guitar with a lightning bolt strap, wearing a black sleeveless T-shirt. Text: "Laura Cox, Trouble Coming" on the side.

Anglo-French guitarist, singer-songwriter, Laura Cox first came to the public’s attention via YouTube, accumulating over one million views. She backed that up with three excellent studio albums: ‘Hard Blues Shot’ (2017), ‘Burning Bright’ (2019) and ‘Head Above Water’ (2023). Cox now returns with album number four, ‘Trouble Coming’. It continues with the similar introspective sound she started exploring on her last release. Cox has never allowed the boundaries of musical genres to stand in her way, and whilst she continues to incorporate that guitar-driven sound blending Hard, Southern, Blues Rock, which she presented on her debut and sophomore releases, she’s now integrated more modern Alternative/Pop/Punk Rock elements on ‘Troubles Coming’. The latter is augmented by the intentional distortion used on both vocals and guitars.

The Southern Hard Rock swagger of ‘No Need To Try Harder’ kicks off the album in fine style with a cool riff. ‘A Way Home’ continues the momentum, and features another sharp, sweet guitar solo. Cox seems to instinctively know what type of solo is required and never overplays it. The excellent title track is Blues Rock with a narrative style vocal, described by the artist herself as, “A soaring, hypnotic title, inspired by a journey through Scotland, marked by mist. ‘Trouble Coming’ evokes the omnipresent threats around us, often imperceptible when we stay on the surface.”

‘Inside The Storm’ is modern Hard Rock with a hook big enough to land a great white, whilst ‘What Do You Know?’ is a moody Alt. Rock track, which will embed its melody deep in your cranium. ‘Dancing Around The Truth’ is more Pop Rock, whilst the laid-back ‘Out Of The Blue’ veers towards Country, albeit with a Rock solo. The Pop-Punk tracks ‘The Broken’ and ‘Do I Have Your Attention?’ (you sure do) are in similar vein to the songs of Rick Springfield’s underrated ‘shock/ denial/ anger/ acceptance’ release. The modern Blues Hard Rock of ‘Rise Together’ is similar to Brave Rival, and the atmospheric Kings Of Leon-esque ‘Strangers Someday’ concludes the impressive eleven-track opus.

At thirty-six minutes long, it’s a relatively short album, and with half the songs being only approximately three minutes, they never outstay their welcome. Having revisited her last three albums, I can confidently say that this is her best release to date.

There may be des problèmes à venir (trouble coming), but the talented Ms. Cox is single handedly maintaining the Entente Cordiale.

Reviewer: Mark Donnelly

Label: earMUSIC

Genre: Rock

Issue Reviewed In: 112

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