Nothings Gonna Stand in My Way Again

LORETTA LYNNやPATSY CLINEを彷彿させる古典的カントリースターのホンキートンク・サウンド / スタイルにEXENE CERVENKA、CARLA BOZULICHといったパンクロック・デーヴァのエッセンスをブレンドさせたスタイルが魅力のオルタナティヴ・カントリー・シンガー、リディア・ラヴレス。絶賛された『DAUGHTER』(2020年)に続くニューアルバム『NOTHING'S GONNA STAND IN MY WAY AGAIN』をリリース!
アルコールやうつ病との闘い、長年のボーイフレンドとの別れ、そして将来への不安などのテーマをトレード・マークである率直さと鋭いウィットで表現しています。ヴィンテージ・カントリーのハートとハートランド・ロックの魂を併せ持つ音楽性は、『RUMORS』や『TUSK』時代のフリートウッド・マックと比較されています。

Lydia Loveless is naked on the front cover of 2023s Nothings Gonna Stand in My Way Again, with their back to the camera as they cautiously look over their shoulder, the image cropped to keep it PG-13 and the albums title projected onto their back. Its a fine, suitably bold visual metaphor for Loveless songwriting -- since they first hit their creative stride with 2013s Boy Crazy EP, theyve been perfectly unafraid to reveal themself in their work, reveling in their strengths and unapologetically exploring their failings, the voice of someone accustomed to the consequences of their actions. Like more than a few ambitious American artists, Loveless found the boundaries of their early alt country sides too confining, and like 2020s excellent Daughter, Nothings Gonna Stand in My Way Again is most strongly rooted in pop, though the occasional swell of a pedal steel guitar and the insistent twang in their voice reminds us (and them) of their roots. Nothings Gonna Stand in My Way Again also rocks harder than Daughter on tracks like "Poor Boy," "Toothache," and "Do the Right Thing," where the studio band (which includes Jay Gonzalez of the Drive-By Truckers) evokes a bit of the power and melodic charge of early Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. On Nothings Gonna Stand in My Way Again, Loveless is once again caught in the turmoil of complicated relationships and the demands of life as an adult -- pop music is loaded with songs about sex and money but Loveless "Sex and Money" deals with the hard truths of how much they need both, and how too much or too little can complicate someones life. "Poor Boy" and "French Restaurant" struggle with the dilemma of needing and wanting someone you know is ultimately not right for you, "Runaway" studies the nagging instinct to do the wrong thing, and the spare but powerful closer "Summerlong" speaks with painful eloquence about the ache of need and loneliness. Very few songwriters working in 2023 can bare their soul as effectively and with such striking relatability as Loveless, and fewer still have a voice that communicates their complex emotions as effectively and with as much clarity and unforced passion as they do here. Since releasing their first album in 2010, Lydia Loveless has matured into one of the most compelling and consistently impressive singer/songwriters America can claim, and with Nothings Gonna Stand in My Way Again, they have matched form and content with a skill that makes it their finest album to date -- no small statement given the strength of their catalog. ~ Mark Deming

タイトルが物語るのは持ち前のパンク・スピリット。しかし、楽曲そのものが印象づけるのは、彼女のルーツにあるパンクやカントリーだけにとどまらない豊かな音楽性だ。リッチなハーモニーや80s調のシンセの音色で彩を加えたハートランド・ロックは、パワー・ポップからバラードまでという振り幅も持つ。きらきらと鳴らした音像がプリテンダーズを連想させる瞬間も。
bounce (C)山口智男