featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
July 23, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
In 2022, former yodeling cowgirl Cassandra Lewis self-released Always All Ways. Co-produced with David Jacobs-Strain and Christopher Worth, it was largely and criminally overlooked (though here at R&B HQ, we did eventually add a couple songs to our ROUTES-casts). With a thrift-store chic style and a pocketful of self-penned tunes, Lewis' primary draw was her incredible siren-like voice, a quintessentially Western instrument that is unlike almost anything else you'll hear in our kind of music.
Cassandra Lewis' early work also caught the ear of americana producer/instrumentalist-to-the-stars Dave Cobb, who serves as producer for the singer-songwriter's follow-up, Lost In a Dream, released on Cobb's Low Country Sound/Elektra imprint. Where Always might have lacked a certain cohesion, the new sessions hold together exceptionally well. If the songs from that first LP seemed a work in progress, a generally serviceable vehicle for Lewis' voice, her ten new tunes (a couple of which are co-writes) demonstrate a positive evolution in her craft. Paired with Cobb's reliably clean and purposeful production, Lost In a Dream shouldn't suffer the same fate as the earlier record.
Lewis and Cobb have applied a decidedly retro sheen to their project, with the singer's vocals echoing throughout the mix, and instrumentation dialed back to match that vision of an earlier time. A co-write with fellow vintage aficionado Anderson East, "Hold the Door" is a longing last look with a touch of bitterness, the sort of bittersweet send-off that epitomizes Lost In a Dream. Loving you through this hand-me-down pain / I'm just living out somebody else's shame, Lewis cries, seemingly set on leaving but hoping to leave some emotional bruises on the way out. With a bolder country touch, "Too Much" surges from a smolder to a raging fire, Lewis aptly reflecting the heat in her masterful delivery: It ain't true love from you / After all the shit you put me through / Could you break it gentle as can be / Set me loose like bottle letters to the sea. There are no formal yodels on these sessions, though Lewis' voice breaks and leaps and flips nimbly across the collection.
The sonic scaffolding of Lost In a Dream includes strains of early rock, soul, and even some psychedelic haze, though the heart of Cassandra Lewis' music is never far from country and/or western. The acoustic "More Like Mama", with a backing vocal from guitarist and cowriter Trevor Bahnson, shows a tender restraint that contrasts well with the record's more theatrical spirit. Lewis sings: The family tree has many branches / And every branch will drop its leaves / We may not have that many seasons / But the stories of our lives will always be / Planted deep beneath the soil inside the seed. "Little Girl" is a waltz-time co-write with Angaleena Presley that, more than any other tune, makes a case for Casssandra Lewis' respect for the lineage of classic country singers, albeit a drunk, weird acid version of Dolly (her own words).
It's that inherent other-ness that sets Cassandra Lewis apart from trad literalists who might be more beholden to period trappings. "So Bad", another Anderson East co-write, plays like a dark Amy Winehouse number. Atop repeating piano chords and escalating strings, the singer delivers a chill-inducing vocal, reclaiming her affections from an abusive lover: Something's fucked up in your mind. "Emerald City" and "Lost In a Dream" trade in psychedelic imagery. Co-written with Natalie Hemby, the title track is triggered by a nap in a field of red poppies ... like a slow motion carousel ride. With its Wizard Of Oz references and sweet, dreamy chorus, "Emerald City" drips with pedal steel: We danced around the broken things / With ruby lips, amphetamines.
To some degree or another, our kind of music is linked by definition to the past. At R&B, artists who balance these bonds with what we consider more contemporary or more relevant sounds tend to earn extra points. Even as they're deliberately rooted in early rock, soul, and country-western vibes, Cassandra Lewis and her producer move their target often enough to keep from becoming a parody. The soulful closer, "I Would" portrays the artist in her most flattering light as a current songwriter, not to mention a genuinely gifted vocalist. Having capitalized on the promise of Lewis' debut, Lost In a Dream succeeds in clarifying her musical identity. The next step is definitely worth watching.
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