The Nerve Magazine

The Light Fantastic is Luft’s follow-up to her 2000 debut (which earned a Prairie Music Award nomination for Outstanding Roots Recording), Tempting the Storm. The long wait for this second album is due to her taking time out to co-found supergroup the Wailin’ Jennys and win a Juno Award for their 40 Days album. As far as the Western Canadian folk scene goes, Luft is quite the star. The Light Fantastic can best be categorized as country music meets rootsy, spiritual, traditional folk, and it is clear that Luft has spent a lifetime perfecting her musicianship. Her songs weave personal stories (“Give it Up” bemoans the timeless topic of boyfriends being rubbish) along with more traditional theme of the open road. Luft manages to be at once Celtic and modern, and proves that you don’t have to be 104 years old with a beard to match, to perfect this kind of music.

-Stephanie Heney