If It's Too Loud...

Continuing 2023's theme of bands leveling up with new albums is Lydia Loveless' Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again. Somewhere else was my favorite album of 2014, and while I've enjoyed her releases in between, nothing Loveless has released has quite connected with me that way since. This new album comes pretty close, though. Loveless has all but abandoned her early alt-country sound and has recently picked up a more pop friendly sound. Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again  finds this great middle ground. A song like "Sex and Money" is nearly pure pop, but with more of an indie rock edge to it. What makes this album so great is how it's a purely unique blend of pop, indie rock, punk, and alt-country. "Feel" is a song that is as beautiful as it is discordant. Loveless' vocals have never sounded better, but musically the song is more art and noise rock than anything they've done previously. "Toothache" is power pop, and ...

Photo by Jillian Clark There's a ton of buzz about the upcoming album from Lydia Loveless, and I may be a gushing fanboy at times, but her latest single may be her best in her career. "Sex and Money" is this perfect mix of all the phases of Loveless' career. It has the twang of her earlier alt-country classics, the noise and punk that has always been front and center during live shows, and the more pop side that has been on more recent albums. "Sex and Money" could be a trainwreck of a song, but Loveless has melded these genres into this perfectly structured song. Sometimes you just hear a song and know it's something truly special, and that's what this one is. It's the kind of song that you instantly fall in love with and want to share with as many people as possible. Lydia Loveless says of their new single: "This one was written at an Airbnb in Austin on some late tour night where there’s a bottle and a guitar and everyone’s giggly. I’ve t...

Photo by Jillian Clark The latest single from Lydia Loveless is completely different from virtually anything we've heard from them in the past, while still being completely in their back catalog. "Runaway" is a heartbreaking ballad that doesn't sound like anything being made in 2023. It's almost an 80's power ballad with some alt-country twang and somehow just the slightest punk edge. Everything Loveless has in her is being poured into this song. It's a gorgeous song that is going to drag some emotions out of you, based just on the feelings in Loveless' vocals. The beauty in "Runaway" is needed considering how painful this song feels. Lydia Loveless says of their new single: “This was one of the very first songs I wrote for this record.  I hated it, but my friend Amy was giving me assignments and pushing me to write my way through heartache while I was crashing on her couch. She would send me out with a notebook and tell me not to come back u...

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 ste...