Singer-songwriter Lydia Loveless’ highly anticipated new album, Real, will be released August 19 via Bloodshot Records.“Longer,” the first track to be revealed off Real, is premiering today on Stereogum.
Real was recorded at Sonic Lounge Studios in her home state of Ohio and was engineered and produced by Joe Viers (Dr. John, Twenty One Pilots). “I chose to work with Joe Viers, engineer and producer of my last three releases, again because I trust him completely not only with my music but with my words,” said Loveless. “There was a lot to say this time around and I wanted to return to that sort of playground and (sometimes literally) throw things at the wall. Whereas our previous records could be described as blunt or raw, this one I wanted to be known as honest, as true, as real (rimshot),” she adds.
Of the album Loveless says, “Because I feel like I spent my formative years flopping around like a fish, masking pain with substance abuse and somewhat ashamed of who I was—a hayseed, a phony, I felt—it was absolutely necessary for me to become a stronger, more confident human, or I was going to die. Real is my sort of love letter to that realization, that my existence was just as valid as any other.”
Loveless is joined on the album by Todd May (vocals, guitars, keys), Ben Lamb (bass), Jay Gasper (guitars, pedal steel, keys), George Hondroulis (drums, percussion, keys), Andy Harrison (guitar, keys) and Viers (percussion, guitar).
