Lydia Loveless - "Toothache"

Photo by Jillian Clark

I first discovered Lydia Loveless with 2014's Somewhere Else. Since then I've been somewhat of a superfan, even as she's strayed away from her alt-country roots into a style more akin to pop music. Some songs have worked for me, and others haven't, but even the ones that haven't have been at least interesting. Now, they're back with a new album due in September, a new single, and an evolved sound. "Toothache" dips a little bit more into alt-country, but just slightly. It's still more of a pop song, but pop in the way that an artist like Fleetwood Mac and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are pop. Loveless has made a song that references her alt-country roots, her love of pop, and some of the finest late 70's/early 80's pop leaning classic rock around. It's a change in styles that makes perfect sense, and has us desperate to hear more of her new music. It's not a return to her past as much as it is the next step in her musical evolution.

According to Loveless, her new album was "... inspired by a literal toothache and knowing there were way too many other things on my plate at the time to be concerned with my fucking tooth. The millions of little things that pile up when you’re broke and overwhelmed until you snap over the dumbest thing, like running out of dish soap...I struggled with whether or not I could write an anthem with the chorus just being ‘Now I’ve got a toothache!’"

You can watch the video for "Toothache" below. Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again is due out September 22 on Bloodshot Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Lydia Loveless, check out the artist's website.