Lydia Loveless today announced her new album Daughter will be released on September, 25th, 2020, via her new label Honey, You’re Gonna Be Late Records. She has also shared the chiming lead single “Love Is Not Enough” alongside its video, directed by herself and Michael Casey. Daughter–her first album in four years–marks the triumphant return of Loveless, and documents a period of personal upheaval, including a divorce and an interstate move away from her longtime home. Left feeling unmoored and adrift, Loveless worked to redefine herself, both in her own mind and within the context of the world. Written with her characteristic candidness and razor-sharp wit, Daughter is a self-aware journey into independence.
“The song is a response to the old-fashioned idea that love is all you need as opposed to understanding, or give and take. On a larger scale, it’s about people who say things like ‘love trumps hate’ and take zero action to make it true. It’s not enough to ‘feel’ the emotion of love to make things work whether it’s in your own personal relationships or the way you interact with the world,” explains Loveless. “For the video, my friend and I came up with the idea of two a**hole characters running around terrorizing someone until they snap, and ultimately find out these guys’ heads are just full of rocks and old food. Originally I don’t think I was supposed to be that person, but we have limited actors at our disposal during the pandemic and that actually ended up making it more fun. The papier-mâché elements create a sort of other worldly vibe that I think everyone is feeling right now.”
After returning home from extensive touring around 2016’s acclaimed Real, an exhausted Loveless felt she could no longer function at such a demanding level and longed for an overdue break. The next few months were marked by intense change: she parted ways with her husband, who also played bass in her band, and moved away from Columbus, Ohio, which had been her home for years. Loveless was left feeling disconnected from herself and everything she thought she knew. “I felt frustrated with myself for going straight from my tumultuous teen years into a marriage so that I could feel safe, and right when I was getting out of the situation, people around me were settling down and having kids. I felt lost and inexperienced,” she explains. “Meanwhile the political landscape was turning even more bleak. Many men were coming around to feminism because they had just had a daughter. I’d see billboards on the side of the road imploring people not to hurt women because they were somebody’s daughter or sister or mother. And I was living as an individual for the first time, and don’t have maternal desires. My family was in turmoil so defining myself as a daughter or sister didn’t give me much comfort.”
Relocated in North Carolina, Loveless began to focus on herself. With her band hundreds of miles away, she set up a home studio to figure out how to make music in a more isolated way than ever before. The songs didn’t always come easily, but Loveless found unexpected inspiration in learning to use new techniques and gear (including analog synthesizers and a drum machine), as well as writing on piano more than guitar—a process she says helped her stay out of the way of her songs. Unsure if these new songs would become an album or not, Loveless traveled to Chicago, Illinois, to record with Tom Schick (Wilco, Mavis Staples, Norah Jones) at The Loft. “For the first time I felt completely insecure about what I’d made,” she explains. “But recording brought things back into focus. I couldn’t back out of playing and explaining my songs and vision.” Her longtime accomplices–multi-instrumentalists Todd May and Jay Gasper, and drummer George Hondroulis–eventually joined her in the studio, and her friend Laura Jane Grace came through to add guest vocals to the somber “September.” The album began to take shape over three sessions and Loveless, working closely with Schick, pushed herself to chase the new ideas, sounds, and directions that make Daughter a revelation.
Throughout the album, the anguish, hope, regret, and even wry humor of Loveless’ self-reflective journey is palpable. Daughter captures Loveless at her fiery best: her songwriting is stronger and exhibits an even keener insight than ever, showcasing a willingness to push beyond her musical and lyrical comfort zones to find a previously untapped sense of self. “I took a break because I was exhausted. But it was also out of the necessity of trying to learn who I was,” Loveless says. “I spent the last 10 years as a ‘growing up on the farm country gal,’ and felt like I needed to think about who I am now.”
Photo credit: Megan Toenyes
