Somewhere Else | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 18, 2014 | |||
Studio | Sonic Lounge (Columbus, Ohio) | |||
Length | 42:16 | |||
Label | Bloodshot | |||
Producer |
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Lydia Loveless chronology | ||||
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Somewhere Else is the third studio album by American musician Lydia Loveless. It was released on February 18, 2014, by Bloodshot Records.
Somewhere Else was recorded with the same musicians that have extensively toured with Loveless. The album was recorded in two days and was produced by Loveless and engineer Joe Viers at Sonic Lounge in Columbus, Ohio.[1]
Loveless scrapped an entire records' worth of songs before beginning this record.[2] The title track, "Somewhere Else," was written while at SXSW. "Really Wanna See You" was written at Loveless' husband's grandmother's house. Loveless said she used layered guitars on the song to convey an electronica feel.[3]
“Hurts So Bad” was inspired by the tempestuous relationship between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.[2] The song "Head" was co-written with Todd May, who plays guitar in Loveless' band. Loveless said the song went through multiple versions and took a long time to write.[4]
"Verlaine Shot Rimbaud" was featured on a "Special Valentine's Day Edition" of NPR's Morning Edition Heavy Rotation series.[5] It was also featured as a Rolling Stone "Daily Download."[6] The song is about the 19th-century French poets Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud.
The album has a quote from Verlaine's 'Aspiration' inside the cover.[7] The album artwork was created by the Columbus, Ohio-based branding and design agency Blackletter.
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.6/10[8] |
Metacritic | 81/100[9] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [10] |
American Songwriter | [11] |
The A.V. Club | B+[12] |
Chicago Tribune | [13] |
Exclaim! | 8/10[14] |
Los Angeles Times | [15] |
Paste | 8.5/10[16] |
Pitchfork | 7.3/10[17] |
Spin | 8/10[18] |
Uncut | 7/10[19] |
The album had an overwhelmingly good reception[9] and entered Billboard's Heatseekers chart (new entries to Billboard charts, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan) the first week of its release at position number 7.[20]
Paste describes the record as "an album of blood and guts and emotions—anger and yearning and lust—that are so honest and immediate that they beg to be shared. The strength in Loveless’ vocals is how deftly she moves between tough and vulnerable, the emotions in both realms sincere and familiar."[16] Mark Deming from AllMusic notes Loveless "has developed an uncanny ability to talk about matters of the heart and soul with a lyrical voice that's graceful, keenly observed, and brutally honest."[10]
All tracks are written by Lydia Loveless
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Really Wanna See You" | 3:56 |
2. | "Wine Lips" | 3:42 |
3. | "Chris Isaak" | 4:33 |
4. | "To Love Somebody" | 4:38 |
5. | "Hurts So Bad" | 3:33 |
6. | "Head" | 4:21 |
7. | "Verlaine Shot Rimbaud" | 4:38 |
8. | "Somewhere Else" | 5:24 |
9. | "Everything's Gone" | 4:42 |
10. | "They Don't Know" (Kirsty MacColl) | 2:50 |
Band
Additional musicians
I started thinking that I'd better write a real country album. I was writing songs that I really hated and was trying to force some kind of country sound. I basically scrapped everything.
Heavy Rotation is a monthly sampler of public radio personalities' favorite songs.
Peak position: 7; Last week's position: -; Weeks on chart: 1