Album Review: Lissie - 'Carving Canyons'
Planting feeling, growing wiser. Lissie’s new album.
To define Lissie as an American singer and songwriter would be simplistic: she appeared in tv shows, she co – owns the music genre themed popcorn company Otts Pops Indie Pop and she owns her own farm. When the pandemic started spreading, Lissie was in her Iowa farm dealing with an impactful breakup: she decided to use the time wisely, learning to know herself better and, through connecting with nature, connecting with the deepest and more hidden parts of herself. Her upcoming album – Carving Canyons – will be out September 16 on Lionboy Records: here’s
Lissie opens up her album with Unravel, a fiery break up ballad that introduces perfectly the main themes of the album. “I am ready to unravel” – says the singer in one of the strongest choruses of the whole project. It’s almost impossible not to think about Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac when listening to this record: the classic guitar that accompanies the singer’s voice creating a calming yet atmosphere, the harmonies, her deep, warm tone… It’s familiar, but in the best way: it’s comforting, it’s homey. “I knew it was a gamble and I stepped back” – sings Lissie, introducing the listener to the story of how she chose to stop and find herself. Sad, the second track, doesn’t feel sad at all. The singer is angry at her past lover, she thinks about all the wrong things he did and she hopes he’s suffering only at the thought of her. This song seems weaker than the previous one: the lyrics are very clear and easy to understand, but they don’t seem to offer a particularly original perspective; they fail in the attempt to replicate that comforting familiar feeling and rather come off as basic and a little boring. The track is followed by Chasing the sun – now this is what a great song sounds like. The music evolves in a climax as the song progresses, the more one listens to the song, the more they get the idea of slowly moving towards the light. As Lissie rediscovers what makes her the person she is, she unveils her most authentic qualities: every bit of this song contributes to offer a full mosaic picture of Lissie’s way of seeing the world. This is clearly a song that comes from the heart and it’s impossible not to consider it one of the best out of the album. Lonesome wine is another amazing piece that confirms how the singer is at best when she allows herself to share the most introspective and intimidating parts of herself – “It’s me and the bottle tonight, it’s the only one who’s gonna hold me tight”. The song reflects on her painful relationship with alcohol, where she used to seek refugee during difficult times: it took her a lot to work on it and realize that drinking wasn’t an escape nor a solution and she is now finally ready to share with the world her acquired wisdom. It takes not only a great songwriter to create such a strong piece of music, but a great human being: thank God Lissie is both these things (and more).
Night moves is, again, clearly influenced by Fleetwood Mac’s nocturnal pop… Will we ever be tired of their sound? Not now, not ever. Perhaps the best chorus out of the twelve, it’s impossible not to feel like screaming this song on the top of one’s lungs. While Chasing the Sun gave the idea of trying to see the light in life, looking for it even during the worst times, Night moves is more about being peacefully in the dark. The sixth song, breaking the album into two, is Flowers. This is the heart of the album: Lissie opens up about all of her feelings all at once, allowing herself to hurt, burn, fight, “get out of the darkness and go back into the light”. As she eloquently explained, at the time when she was writing the song, she wasn’t only grieving for her relationship, but for the situation in which the whole world was. She was trying to grow flowers in her farm, where she was stuck as the rest of the world, and flowers in her soul, to which she was trying so much to connect with.
“Pain is just a river falling past me”: Carving Canyons explores the ways in which our own emotional experiences are forming new topographical textures to explore. It’s through this connection with nature that the singer has found her piece, it’s through seeing herself as part of the environment that she has found the best way to express herself and know how to cope with pain. As we all know, to go through grieving is to walk on a path that is not linear: I Hate This is a desperate song that comes right after wise, mature anthems that paint the picture of a person that is learning how to move on and become better. It doesn't feel like a step back, rather it feels like a natural pause to breathe after a long hike. After telling herself that she is free to feel whatever at any moment, the singer opens up about feeling sad again, asking herself more questions, trying again to find the tipping point, the big mistake, why it didn’t work out.
Unlock the chains is about accepting change: change in the world, in the state of things, within oneself. The singer looks into herself once again and shares other very personal lyrics that she managed to mould into very relatable words: “unlock the chains of love” is one of the best messages that appear in the album. Hearts on fire is rightfully one of the last songs: it can’t compete with the other tracks, both the music and the lyrics are forgettable. Yellow roses was written with Natalie Hemby (she also sings the harmonies). It has a country vibe to it and it’s about reemerging from isolation. The chorus is very delicate and catchy. It’s a cute song, definitely not one of the best, but it gives the album an extra dose of patience, calm. Midnight is the last chapter, the conclusion: “Look at my eyes, never was good at telling lies”. It’s the longest song of the album and it is both a reflection on the past and a hope for the future. The singer is finally able to look at herself with affection: she looks at her struggles, at her strengths, at the lost battles and the challenges she overcame. “I’m gonna live my life like it’s slipping away” is how Lissie closes her last album: she now realizes what it means to live to the fullest and isn’t going to waste any more time worrying about not being perfect or hiding her feelings to herself.
This album is a great musical experience, but it is most of all an amazing tale of a woman’s journey to find her true self: Lissie makes all of the listeners feel all of her emotions thanks to her unique talent with words, it’s hard not to replicate the path that the singer has gone through while listening to the songs in order. She showed once again that great music is able to make the listeners get lost and then find themselves again.
Words by Giulia Scolari
