Hers is the sound of country and folk, with songs reminiscent of Elvis, Johnny, Kris and Gram, not to mention Dolly and Patsy Cline, while her vocals—grainy one moment, clear the next— tumble across the syllables. “I’m too old to die young,” she sings at album’s end, facing up to unsettling facts many of us avoid. She’s too good to be ignored, too.
Those of us elsewhere than Australia have an excuse for our ignorance about her, however flimsy it may be, given the tsunami of new sounds that routinely surges from the streaming services. Here’s a quick-hit biography: After decades spent with the folk-flavored Tinpan Orange, she released a well-received solo EP, Begin Again, in 2022. (Be sure to check out that set’s infectious “Like I Do.”) Two Black Horses, which hit the streets last week, marks her full-length debut. It mines melodies and rhythms from the collective unconscious, just about, while the lyrics spin stories and fever dreams from her life and imagination.
The title cut, which opens the 30-minute set, steps into her mother’s shoes while she dealt with an unimaginable loss: “I did not know that I would never see you again,” Lubitz sings for her mom, who lost her father at a young age. As with other songs, the production lacquers an old-school Nashville production across the arrangement, giving it a familiar feel. “Big Time,” about an aspiring singer’s quest for success (“Any regrets she has she just sings them out on stage”) swings like an Emmylou Harris single circa the 1970s.
“Stay Tender-Hearted,” on the other hand, reminds me of the aforementioned Patsy Cline; the lyrics offer heartfelt advice to her children. As she explains in the press release, “’I wish them to maintain their soft hearts. Life is better with a tender heart.”
“Everything Good Is Somewhere Else” delves into life, love, and crime dramas (which, I admit, I watch way too much of): “She’s lying in the bath wearing fancy clothes/I’m sick of dead girls on my TV shows/We could stay and watch this story arc bending/Or walk out the door, I want a different ending.” The low-key “A Kardashian Winter,” meanwhile, finds her pining for her man while stuck in a foreign city. “My Summer Holiday,” on the other hand, conjures the hazy days of a lazy vacation, while “My Rita”—written from the perspective of her father—celebrates her parents’ courtship, which apparently didn’t go over so well with his folks.
“Don’t Worry You Got Time” is an optimistic ode about life’s atomic clock, while “Too Old to Die Young”—a touching duet with Jordie Lane—finds her contemplating time passages. In the press release, she says that it was written when she was younger: “The song was originally written about passing the age of 27 and feeling like I’d dodged a bullet. With the whole 27 club thing. As I get older, it takes on new meanings.”
All in all, though just a few ticks longer than 30 minutes, Two Black Horses is a tremendous outing that sports a classic country sound one moment and a rustic folk feel the next. Lubitz co-wrote many of the songs with her husband, Harry James Angus (formerly of the Melbourne-based jazz-funk band Cat Empire), who also produced. It’s well worth a few dozen listens, if not more.
The Old Grey Cat 