Throughout this pandemic, many people have had to contend with the aches of loneliness and isolation, cut off from family and friends, and unable to gather in concert halls and bars. For those who tend to be extremely social, I’m sure this has been a particularly difficult year. For others, a period of forced withdrawal from the world is almost a boon. On Valentine’s Day, singer and songwriter LP Kelly released an album titled Love Songs For Loners. It features all original material, written or co-written by Liam Patrick Kelly, songs addressing both love and solitude. I was turned onto LP Kelly several years ago when he released Off My Lawn, then under the name Old Man Kelly. You might also know him from his work with the Jugbusters. This new album is largely a solo effort, which is fitting for both the times and the title. LP Kelly plays most of the instruments, though he does get a little help from guest musicians on certain tracks.
The album opens with “Heaven Ain’t Heaven,” a pretty song in which LP Kelly sings, “Now I’m heading to the east just to hold you to my breast/Because heaven just ain’t heaven all alone.” Most of us feel a need to share our important experiences and beautiful moments, for sometimes it is as if those things just aren’t real until we’ve shared them. And what a great voice LP Kelly has. There is experience behind it, and a friendly and comforting tone, perfect for the subject. And check out these lines: “And a single human lifetime seems reduced to just a pinpoint/Crushed between the ocean and the trees.” This is an excellent opening track. It is followed by “Trails,” a powerful song about connections between the past and the present, whether we choose to acknowledge them or not, and specifically about the Cherokee nation’s devastating Trail Of Tears. There is a strong sense of rhythm on the guitar and some really good lyrics, such as these lines: “We borrow habits from those who've gone before/Not to question, never to explore.”
LP Kelly then delivers a lively and fun number, “The Light In Me,” which features some absolutely delightful work by Matt Labarge on keys. “I love the way you love me right/Put those arms around me, mama, squeeze me tight.” It contains a reference to an old blues number in the next line: “And you can lay me down a pallet on your floor.” But the line I love the most is “If you’ve got to leave me, mama, leave me with a grin.” Yeah, it’s a love song, to be sure, and one with delivered a lot of joy. “Your Lovin’ Won’t Pay My Rent” is a playful country number, the title a variation on the line from “Money (That’s What I Want),” “But your love don’t pay my bills.” This is a timely number, isn’t it? After all, a lot of folks haven’t been able to pay their rent during the pandemic, and now landlords are looking to evict folks who are behind, putting them in an even worse situation. This track has more nice work by Matt Labarge on keys, and also features some wonderful work by Thomas Bryan Eaton on pedal steel. I also like that bass line. Then some sweet and gentle guitar work begins “The Paradox Of Choice,” a song about not wanting to choose, for fear that something better might be on the horizon, and not wanting to let go, in case that something doesn’t arrive. “Someday you’ll realize you overanalyze/Make your stand, give it your best shot/If you keep trying to optimize, you won’t be satisfied/With what you’ve got.” This one is vocals and guitar, and, partly because of that, it feels like he is addressing us personally and directly, this song being heartfelt and intimate. It is one of my personal favorites.
LP Kelly then turns to a bluegrass style with “I Wrote You A Love Song,” a song that celebrates the end of a relationship and being alone, a love song to oneself. “I wrote you a song, it just ain’t the one you wanted/It’s a love song, but the love, it ain’t for you/Because I love being free, and I sure love being me/And I love the fact that you and I are through.” I love this line, “You could make me sit, but never make me stay.” There have been many songs about being treated like a dog, but I don’t recall that idea ever being phrased quite like that, and it’s perfect. “Bike Thief” is a different sort of love song, sung from the perspective of a person who had a one-night stand and then stole the other person’s bicycle in the morning. Its lyrics also mention freedom: “You screamed after me that you’d call the cops/It felt good to be free, so I didn’t stop.” Chris Printz adds some wonderful work on mandolin. This one has an interesting sound, at times like a strange country carnival waltz.
In “Coffee For One,” LP Kelly sings “And there ain’t nothing wrong with doing nothing at all/In the cool of
the morning of the early fall/Well, I don’t mind sleeping all alone at night/Pulling
down the blinds, keeping out the morning light.” This song of solitude is
surprisingly engaging and compelling, sometimes seeming cheerful and content,
and sometimes feeling like it is at the edge of despair. That’s followed by
“Sun In The West,” a delightful country number about being lonely and thinking
back on a relationship. “I wonder if you
still love me/I wonder if you still care/I’d do anything that you’d ask me
to/If you’d come and take away these lonely blues.” Paul Herling joins him
on fiddle for this one, and Thomas Bryan Eaton returns on pedal steel. Matt
Labarge’s work on keys at times has something of an old parlor sound. This one
was co-written by Alfred Dean Reed. The album concludes with “The Faded Rake,” a
pretty and moving song. “You thought
you’d die before you had to own up/You were a legend, but now your friends have
grown up/You thought you’d burn out, you never thought you’d fade.” Wow, how
are those for some wonderfully depressing lines? This song also contains a
reference to Tom Waits, which totally works, because this is a character that would
be completely at home in one of his songs. This song slowly fades out as he
repeats the line “You thought you’d burn
out, you never thought you’d fade,” which is kind of playful itself. This
song is another of my favorites.
CD Track List
- Heaven Ain’t Heaven
- Trails
- The Light In Me
- Your Lovin’ Won’t Pay My Rent
- The Paradox Of Choice
- I Wrote You A Love Song
- Bike Thief
- Coffee For One
- Sun In The West
- The Faded Rake
Love Songs For Loners was released on February 14, 2021.
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