ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
September 24, 2023
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
Diversity and representation matter, and the Americana Music Association are honoring this as well as any music-related organization these days. AMA's Honors & Awards were convened Wednesday evening, and broadcast on NPR Music's YouTube channel. Never the music industry's smoothest running show, it makes up for what it lacks in stage management with sincerity and excellent performance. This year's performers included a fierce Allison Russell, a sweet celebration of the Avett Brothers (who suddenly seem like elder statesmen), and a transcendent exhibition by Bette LaVette, marred only by the fact that she wandered off mic (then off stage) during her song's explosive finale. With appearances by War & Treaty, Adeem the Artist, SG Goodman, and "The Tennessee Three" (the Representatives temporarily expelled for their anti-gun protest, not Johnny Cash's band), the AMAs are embracing diversity unabashedly and without undue awkwardness. Even if their recognition of Bonnie Raitt for Song of the Year was way off base, and even though Billy Strings was the incorrect answer for Artist of the Year, the show was largely a success. We'll share more about our take on what's mattered in the Year in Americana as we close out 2023 in the weeks to come. For now, you can stream the show (and fast forward thru Sarah Silverman's painful celebration of Patty Griffin (Sarah Silverman??!)) as your schedule permits.
We'll also remind everyone that our own year-end favorites often differ wildly from AMA's party line. Back at the setting of 2019, we declared our favorite albums of the 2010s, standing firmly behind Lydia Loveless' 2011 Indestructible Machine atop the list. Of course, as Loveless' story continued to unfold, their music took a turn to embrace pop, even as records like 2014's Somewhere Else and 2020's Daughter were championed in our subsequent year-end lists. 2016's spiky/sad Real held that year's Number 1 spot. Loveless continued to carry that original alt.country element in her voice and in certain sonic shades, though the cartoon character that graced the jacket of Indestructible matured into the flesh-and-blood, fire-and-ice, warts-and-all woman behind the just-released Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again (Bloodshot).
A lot has happened in Lydia Loveless' word since Daughter, setbacks both personal and professional, not to mention the pandemic that eventually found her returning to her native Ohio and taking part-time work as an engineer at a friend's recording studio. Loveless' accusations against some central figures brought the dissolution of the Bloodshot label, which has since reformed under new ownership. All of this on top of their day-to-day battles with emotional health that led Loveless to call herself the romance novelist of songwriting. The new collection is a victory that juxtaposes emotional turmoil with great humor, communicated through music that throws any remaining genre lines to the wind.
In interviews, Lydia Loveless has made clear her musical comfort zone, her playlist/security blanket incorporates late 90s and early 2000s pop. With most of the songs on NGSIMWA reportedly composed on piano, and with the generous presence of Wurlitzers, synths and mellotrons from contributors like Jay Gonzales (Drive-by Truckers) and Philippe Bronchtein (Hip Hatchet), this influence is given rein on songs like "Poor Boy". A "Boys Don't Cry" guitar line and Michelle Sullivan's bright Go-Gos backing vocals complete the picture: There's a sign that says keep off the grass / But I wanna cross the line. One of Loveless' most masterful tunes, "Sex and Money" delivers a pop-perfect package, including a genuinely indelible chorus that might bring to mind the Divinyls' "I Touch Myself": Like a faded old paperback / I like to crack you open when I'm feeling sad. Guitars are by no means abandoned, stabbing throughout the mix and anchoring the songs nearer the harder edge that's always been an aspect of their music.
Loveless' songs have also balanced their hard-ass image with social awkwardness and self-deprecation, flirting with the edges when they're not burrowing beneath the blankets. She is Dissociating down at Bad Daddy's Burger Bar on "Runaway", addressing the songwriter's perpetual self-sabotage on one of the sessions' most country-leaning tracks. NGSIMWA is peppered with lyrics that allow Loveless to boldly express some of her more alarming ideations: Every time I go to the airport / I try to miss my flight / Every time I drive on the highway I wanna jerk the wheel to the right. On the gauzy "Ghost", they're haunting an ex's house, confident that Now that I'm dead nothing's gonna stand in my way again. It's part of Lydia Loveless' package, a barefaced honesty that is impressive and even dangerous in its intimacy. "Toothache" addresses living alone in the wake of a separation: I find myself hyper-focused on the dirty windows / And running out of dish soap / Cuz it's different all on my own.
The might be more concerning if her social awkwardness weren't also expressed with such humor, to the point where Loveless has experimented with stand-up comedy. On "Sex and Money": I know I'm not saving the world / But I gotta live in it so I might as well splurge / On two-hundred cotton t-shirts / With my face on the front. Beneath the ambient guitar of "Feel", they drop the threat: If I ever get sober it's really over for you fools. But a strong beat and busy synths break through the haze, Loveless' increasingly confident delivery is almost reassuring. These are great sounding songs, well-built by the artist and their longtime bandmates, beholden only to their whim. As Loveless has pointed out, dismissing the fear of being pegged as an americana artist, they have created the least rootsy record of their career.
If Lydia Loveless hadn't released Indestructible Machine very early in her career, she might never have been considered in this roots-adjacent lane. Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again merits consideration alongside true peers like Courtney Barnett or Jenny Lewis - you'll want to check out Loveless' one-off duet with Jason Hawk Harris on Rilo Kiley's "Portions For Foxes". With its rolling drums, melodic sensibility, and ooh-la-la backing vocals, "Do the Right Thing" is a pop gem. Elsewhere on the spectrum, the piano and strings of "Summerlong" are gorgeous, the ballad spotlighting Loveless' tremendous vocal gift. She closes one of the year's most impressive albums with a reassurance: These tiny shoulders will grow wings / I'm flying higher than my sense / I've already decided that I'll be alright ...
Wait ... one more thing. Among the forthcoming records we're most looking forward to on A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster are the following recent announcements: One of our favorite singer-songwriters and onetime Water Liar, Andrew Bryant has scheduled his next release. On his own Sentimental Noises label, Prodigal will appear wherever music matters on November 3. Texas legend Jon Dee Graham returns from death's doorstep with his first record in seven years. The aptly titled Only Dead For a Little While will be released via Strolling Bones on November 10. The enigmatic Cat Power's next project features a live run through one of Bob Dylan's iconic shows. The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert lands on digital shelves on November 10 (Domino). After flirting with the spotlight for the last few years, Vincent Neil Emerson will take the next logical step with the release of a Shooter Jennings-produced collection. Golden Crystal Kingdom is also scheduled for a November 10 debut via the La Honda label. Finally, Uncle Lucius has reformed following an eight-year hiatus. They will wrap up the year with the December 8 release of Like It's the Last One Left (Boo Clap).
ROUTES-cast September 24, 2023
- Slaughter Beach Dog, "My Sister in Jesus Christ" Crying Laughing Waving Smiling (Lame-O, 23)
^ Lydia Loveless "Poor Boy" Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again (Bloodshot, 23)
- Jason Hawk Harris, "Bring Out the Lillies" Thin Places (Bloodshot, Oct 6)
- Jenny Owen Youngs, "Salt" Avalanche (Yep Roc, 23)
- Ha Ha Tonka, "Just Like That" Blood Red Moon (Ha Ha Tonka, Oct 20)
- Tre Burt, "Piece of Me" Traffic Fiction (Oh Boy, Oct 6)
- Andrew Bryant, "Prodigal" Prodigal (Sentimental Noises, Nov 3) D
- Margo Price, "Mind Travel" Strays II (Loma Vista, Oct 12)
- Vincent Neil Emerson, "Little Wolf's Invincible Yellow Medicine Paint" Golden Crystal Kingdom (La Honda, Nov 10) D
- Alex Williams, "Something To Prove" single (Lightning Rod, 23) D
- Wyatt Flores, "West of Tulsa" single (Island, 23) D
- Zach Bryan, "Boys of Faith (ft Bon Iver)" Boys of Faith EP (Belting Bronco, 23) D
- Brent Cobb, "Devil Ain't Done" Southern Star (Ol' Buddy, 23)
- Brandy Clark, "Gulf Coast Highway" More Than a Whisper: Celebrating the Music of Nanci Griffith (Rounder, 23)
- Buddy & Julie Miller, "Painkillers Ain't Workin'" In the Throes (New West, 23)
- Charles Wesley Godwin, "Two Weeks Gone" Family Ties (Big Loud, 23)
- Harvest Thieves, "Gaslighter" As the Sparks Fly Upward (Harvest Thieves, Oct 20)
- Abby Hamilton, "Whatever Helps You Sleep" #1 Zookeeper (of the San Diego Zoo) (Blue Gown, Oct 13)
- Bella White, "Unknown Legend" single (Rounder, 23) D
- Nora Jane Struthers, "I Can Hear the Birds" Back To Cast Iron (Blue Pig, Oct 27)
- Willy Tea Taylor & Fellership, "Devil's Taxidermy" Great Western Hangover (Blackwing, Oct 27)
- Jolie Holland, "Orange Blossoms" Haunted Mountain (Cinquefoil, Oct 6)
- Diane & the Gentle Men, "Hook Up" Bad and the Beautiful (Velvet Elk, 23)
- Faye Webster, "Lifetime" single (Secretly Canadian, 23) D
- Laura Veirs, "Rocks Of Time" Phone Orphans (Raven Marching Band, Nov 3) D
- Du Blonde & Samuel T Herring, "Pelican Canyon" single (Daemon TV, 23) D
- Johanna Samuels, "Real Emotional Girl" Lagniappe Session EP (Jealous Butcher, 23) D
- Skinny Pelembe, "Who By Fire (ft Beth Orton)" single (Partisan, 23) D
- Angie McMahon, "Exploding" Light Dark Light Again (AWAL, Oct 27)
- Daniel Bachman, "Summer's Fingers Sweetly Linger" When the Roses Come Again (Three Lobed, Nov 17) D
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