(Chromatic) Laura Veirs today announced that a new live album, Laura Veirs And The Choir Who Couldn't Say (Live In Angouleme), will be released digitally on October 10, 2025, via her own label Raven Marching Band.
The recording documents Veirs' May 2025 performance of 14 of her songs-as well as one by case/lang/veirs (Veirs' 2016 collaborative album with kd lang and Neko Case)-alongside a French school choir composed of 32 students (30 girls and 2 boys, ages 12-18) and featuring arrangements by their director, Patrice Cleyrat.
She has also shared one of the tracks, "I Can See Your Tracks" (from her 2010 album July Flame) alongside a video. Gorgeous, sparse and deeply moving, Laura Veirs and the Choir Who Couldn't Say (Live In Angouleme) captures the intensity, soulfulness and hard work of school children in a middle class community in France collaborating with a renowned American singer-songwriter, and is a hopeful demonstration of international artistic collaboration during dark times around the globe.
"Hearing their brave and soulful renditions of my songs and performing with them was a career highlight," recalled Veirs "I'm so glad we were able to capture the magic of this performance and can share it with the world in the form of this new album."
"I'm really proud of the choir and of this absolutely unique experience. I worked very hard all year to make it happen," says Cleyrat. "I hope this experience will help them become great adults and to have faith in the future and in real relationships between differing countries. Music is my passion; I try to transmit it."
Laura Veirs And The Choir Who Couldn't Say (Live In Angouleme) is the Portland, Oregon-based Veirs' second live album in two years, and a surprising collaboration. The choir and Cleyrat practiced for nine months before Veirs joined them on stage for a recorded live performance in Angouleme on May 24, 2025. Veirs accompanied the choir on vocals and guitar on most songs; Cleyrat played keyboards on many as well. The recording was a community effort, co-produced by Veirs and Cleyrat, captured live by Etienne Jouanneau, mixed in Paris by Edouard Bonard, and mastered in Portland, OR, by Jon Neufeld. Veirs created the cover art and an accompanying show poster in her backyard art studio in Portland.
A longtime fan of Veirs, Cleyrat previously also organized a concert of her songs with another children's choir (the "Young Rapture Choir") in 2006. While Veirs attended that concert but did not perform, the show was also recorded and she released it as a limited edition CD on her label. A deep music fan, Cleyrat has also taught his choirs over the years the works of Nirvana, Granddaddy and other American rock bands.
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