While some are still opting for steaming lattes over frappuccinos, Laura Veirs’ newest album, July Flame, is an ode to summer, and it beautifully paints a picture of the season’s peaceful warmth and exciting freedom.

July Flame is Laura Veirs’ seventh album and her first in nearly three years. Veirs, a hidden gem among many folk aficionados, has stood out for years for her unique voice and poetic writing. Her newest CD is an interesting display of these talents, although it is closer to the idle sketches of an artist than a masterwork. These musical sketches, however, sometimes outshine the better-known works with both unconscious talent and ingenuity.

Folk-y indie music often falls into self-parody. For every Decemberists and Regina Spektor releasing an album, there is also a guy plucking at his guitar and singing sleepily about butterflies and Babylon. But then there are artists like Laura Veirs, who take the simplicity of guitar and vocals and create beautifully simple songs.

A July flame is a kind of peach that grows in the summer and July Flame takes many of summer’s greatest peach-flavored pleasures — sweet peach melba and refreshing peach ice cream — and captures them in song.

Summer has many tones, however, and so does Veirs’ album. “Sun is King” creates a languorous mood akin to one swaying in a hammock and idly people-watching. Meanwhile, “Life is Good” is the perfect aural picture of summer dances in a field. “Where Are You Driving?” takes the musical tone of those times as a kid when the zoo or grandpa’s farm seemed like the perfect afternoon adventure.  A particularly strong track is “Summer is the Champion,” a grin-worthy song in its jaunty carelessness.

The title song is musically thicker than some of the others, but is carried swiftly by Veirs’ assertive vocals. All of the songs have some degree of dreaminess, like a summer haze that never burns off.

The overlying theme, however, isn’t only the season but also romance, which explains “Little Deschutes,” a contrast to all the sunny numbers. The song takes Veirs on a sadder turn, with lonesome lyrics and a melancholy tone. Yet it fits the summer theme perfectly — summer may be the time for romantic adventure, but it has also been the site of plenty of breakups.

Through all of these pleasant tracks, Laura Veirs is like a woodland elf, flitting and gliding through each number, her voice an ethereal growl. Her pipes make July Flame pleasing to the ears and her voice has just enough of an edge to avoid the sappiness that could easily drip into a CD that is essentially a collection of summer love songs.

July Flame’s themes make it easy to slide into maudlin whimsy, but, thankfully, it doesn’t. The lyrics and orchestrations manage to capture an honest naïveté that makes it feel like a young summer instead of the pretentious idealizations of one. Because of this, July Flame is genuinely pleasant, refreshing to listen to and a more than worthy companion on car trips.

For virtually all the songs, the musical and vocal accompaniment to Veirs’ singing and guitar work is pared down to a minimum. This is Veirs sitting under a tree enjoying the inspiration of a warm breeze, and she is easily a strong enough singer to perform the songs without backup.

In fact, the songs that do have vocal accompaniment, often provided by My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, distract from the sweet simplicity of the CD. When the musical accompaniment becomes more prominent, it feels almost washed out. The richness of July Flame comes when Veirs is front and center, with accompaniment adding texture and depth in the background.

While July Flame is a strong album, it is unlikely to be remembered as a classic of the genre. It is pleasant — perfect to listen to while doing the dishes or procrastinating on homework by surfing the web — but it does not grab you by the ears and make your hands stop scrubbing or your fingers stop typing. One might hum the songs, but they will not likely be seared into one’s memory.

Though July Flame’s defiance of indie schmaltziness lies in its charming innocence, it keeps the intensity light enough to never pierce deep. Sure, summers are chummier with ice cream and afternoon naps but haven’t some summers changed people’s lives?

Yet a pleasantly satisfying CD is far better than a spectacular failure. Laura Veirs has created a beautiful summer soundtrack. This winter, with news networks covering the Haitian earthquake and airport security taking twice as long, the warm breath of summer is a comforting sound.