Singer-songwriter Liz Longley has been making and releasing music for near two decades now. Originally from Downingtown, Pa., a quaint Philly suburb in mostly rural Chester County, she moved to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music and, in 2011, relocated to Nashville. She’s been on and off various labels along the way, released acclaimed albums, and raised $150,000 on Kickstarter to fund her successful 2020 set, Funeral for My Past. New Life is her seventh long player.
Along the way, she crisscrossed the country in her minivan, both by herself and with a band, multiple times, racking up the miles and, too, racking up the heartache—life on the road isn’t conducive to lasting relationships, after all. “I joke that I built a career writing songs about my failed love life,” she says in the press release. “Then I got all the things I ever wanted, and I was very curious: Where are the songs going to come from now?”
New Life finds her navigating the unfamiliar terrains of marriage, motherhood and postpartum depression, and coping with the strains that her newfound responsibilities sometimes place on old friendships. She muses and frets about matters large and small, playful one moment and serious the next, pairing her insightful lyrics to tunes that range from infectious bops to mid-tempo gems and to-die-for ballads. Throughout, there’s that expressive voice of hers, which is a true thing of wonder.
One highlight: “Mystery,” which is sure to hit home with anyone who’s ever stared at the sky and wondered about the whys and wherefores of existence: “It’s a mystery to me/That we’re even here at all/Spinning a thousand miles an hour/From above we look so small/Standing in the kitchen/Wondering what’s for dinner/It’s all a grand illusion.”
Another favorite: the infectious “So Good,” which finds her musing on good times, adulthood and recapturing one’s youth if only during a backyard jam: “Maybe someday we might regret/the wine and the weed and the cigarettes/Hey who’re we kidding? Why’d we ever do that?/We’re gonna live it up and never look back.”
“100x,” on the other hand, is a song about the routine disappointments normalized by some. “Whether it’s a friendship, a relationship, or any connection, this song is for anyone who’s finally said, ‘enough,’” she explains in the press release.
“New Life,” meanwhile, finds her fearful of what the future may bring: “I brought new life to a dying planet/a shoreline to a sea of panic/Maybe you’re the clarity in this all this static/new life, carry on.” “Can’t Get Enough,” which may well be my favorite song on the album, closes things on a similar note, this time while sitting around a campfire: “Just when you’ve had it with the world/The way it twists you up/It’s wicked and it’s rough/It pulls you back in/You wanna look away/You’re just about to break/But you’re swept up again/The sky, the way it looks tonight/Some things you can’t get enough of.”
Recorded with producer (and frequent collaborator) Paul Moak at Smoakstack Studio in Nashville, the 11-track set is sure to hit home with all who enjoy folky musings paired with a pop polish and ever-so-slight twang. It reminds me of the singer-songwriter albums of yore, in other words. Highly recommended.
The track list:
The Old Grey Cat 