Powerful confessional lyrics drive Lawrence Rothman’s journey to the dark side of Americana.
For their fifth album, Here Lies Love / Sawdust to Stardust, Lawrence Rothman has brought an ‘A‘ list of collaborators, including Madi Diaz, Amanda Shires, Katie Pruitt, Jason Isbell and Jillian Jaqueline. Written and recorded in Biarritz, France, and Nashville, Tennessee, and produced and mixed entirely by Rothman himself, the album leans to the darker side of Americana in its tone, with rich, deep vocals from Rothman, reminiscent of Nick Cage, and arrangements at times in Hannah Aldridge/southern gothic mould.
Variety, though, is the spice of life, and in its thirteen tracks the collection draws on the full range of Americana voicings, while always centred by Rothman’s distinctive vocals. Opening track The Meaning starts with stripped-back acoustic guitar and vocal, with a reflective lyric “Why am I breathing/ What is the reason/ Is anybody up there/ Is anybody listening/Who’s writing the story when I hear it in the wind/ Is the truth coming from outside/ Or somewhere buried beneath my skin”, before building atmospherically with female backing vocals and strings.
Stable has at its heart facing up to challenges in life, characterised as “Wolves keep pacing my front porch/ I just starting to leave out the back door/ Trying to even the score/ It ain’t easy, but day by day I watch them wolves get a little farther away/I’m far from free, but I’m safe”, with the memorable refrain “I’ve been lying to myself that I didn’t need help, but I’m trying to turn the tables/I’m somewhere between falling apart and stable.”
A powerful duet, with Sarah Klang, A Fire Test has a visceral lyric, the title a metaphor for how a relationship, however strong, may ultimately be doomed: “I’d let you fuck me over /I’d let you scar me up again/ Time could make me stronger/ Or lonelier than I’ve ever been/ When I was much younger I had a vision of us/ Staying together, growing older/There’s no beauty in losing the one you love/There’s no beauty in losing the one you love/ Our love is a fire test.”
Insistent kick drum and wailing harmonica introduce the cinematic Demons, summoning up the spirit of Shivaree, firmly in southern gothic territory, vocals shared with Delaney Ramsdell, “From the sinner to the saint/ From the beggar to the king/ We all got demons/ We all got demons/ From the sober to the wasted/ The story doesn’t change/ We all got demons/ And we all gotta feed them.”
The album has a confessional feel throughout, none more so than in Lost In Her Rock’n’Roll, their reflection on opportunities missed or wasted, but ultimately ending on a hopeful note: “My faint scars they glow in the dark/ Come lift my mind up from regret/ The Missouri kid in me ain’t done quite yet/ I do my best, but sometimes my best is my worst/ Always six months away from a breakthrough twenty three years ain’t it time I broke through/ I do my best and my best will get me out of my worst.”
Emotional and finely crafted lyrics combine with the full range of Americana voicings, making this one of the best releases of the year.
