Agrimony is the new record from Canadian-born, UK-based musician Laura Reznek. The eight-track LP boasts beautiful arrangements that nod to Reznek’s classical training, a perfect complement to her insightful observational lyricism. Found sounds occasionally break through the plush instrumentation; infusing Agrimony with unexpected textures that bristle with something a little darker.

In the world of plant healing, agrimony is said to be a catalyst for honesty, dissolving the mask and helping those who struggle to unveil their truest selves. The same could be said for the incisive effect of Reznek’s uniquely astute commentary. On Agrimony, autobiographical threads mingle with everyday minutiae gleaned from avid people-watching; the micro often reflecting the macro in each carefully constructed narrative. Stand-out track “Collectors” provides an obvious example; weaving the cynicism of a disillusioned retail worker into a broader commentary on unethical capitalist co-optation of marginalised cultures.

Reznek’s influences range from cinematic scores to modern Scandi-pop, and musicianship has been a dominant thread in her life from a young age. She took up the violin at just three years old, but performance was not the only aspect of her work that manifested so impressively early. The first sentence Reznek strung together as a child – “'I do myself” – seemed to foreshadow her passionately DIY approach to her vocation. The past five years have seen Reznek living and working in the UK. Pre-pandemic she led the textbook nomadic lifestyle of a touring musician, writing many of Agrimony’s songs whilst on the road. A wintry
trip to Berlin spawned “Green Linoleum”, a nostalgic ode to a simpler time. Through its shifting tapestry of memories, the track taps keenly into a generational fear of change and growing older, exacerbated by global uncertainties. Meanwhile, “Important” came into being in the back of a camper van in Iceland. Reznek found herself looking out at a herd of sheep huddled tight against the fence separating them from a fresh pasture, instead of exploring the field in which the found themselves. “It just reminded me of living in this world,” Reznek
explains. “Never content with all that life has to offer and constantly worrying about what other people have and desperately trying to attain it.” “Important” laments the lack of desire many have to remain “curious and strange” – qualities laudable in a person and, indeed, in this record.

“After, Before” was the last track written for the album, and in Reznek’s eyes it’s a cut that pulls together its most important motifs. Like several of its companions, “After, Before” is a song that focusses on memory. It explores how a significant moment has the power to split time into a before and an after, and all the complications that come with that. There’s a humbleness and an admission of imperfection at its core that is key to Agrimony as a whole – a crystallisation of that very honest-making power promised by this record’s name.

Whilst many of Agrimony’s themes may be challenging, Reznek impresses with impeccably accessible songwriting and production throughout. It’s this marriage that makes the record such a triumph: an engaging and thought-provoking listen appropriate for these uniquely difficult times.