Maria Taylor: In the Next Life

The first single off Maria Taylor’s new album, “If Only” with Conor Oberst, showed up on the new drama This Is Us, and it makes sense. Taylor writes life-soundtracking pieces, full of personal insight and openness. Her music, without fail, is lovely and expressive, and her new album In the Next Life opens a warm space to sink into, full of indie-folk from the west coast.

Opener “Home” begins the album with a piano part that might be a perfect fit for those, like the singer, who have “traveled into the twilight”, but it has the touch of a seasonal commercial, too, something with low lighting and a family member smiling in surprise. Taylor’s lyrics make a treasure of experience, but it’s too easy to lose focus in the album’s smooth prettiness, leaving the album between something that — unfortunately given Taylor’s writing — shifts to a nice background and an aural comfort that makes tracking the lyric developments a pleasure.