“Oh Hollywood,” sings Elisabeth Corrin Maurus on her melancholy third album. “You broke my heart just because you could.”
The follow-up to the classy country-rock of Back to Forever (2013) marks a retreat of sorts.
Lissie recently moved from California back to her native Midwest and has toned down her Fleetwood Mac-isms in favour of sparse piano ballads dealing in loneliness and failure.
At times, she seems a little unsure of her voice: you can hear the Adele psychosis on Hollywood, and she switches to a Lana del Rey alto on Wild West.
However, she’s at her best when she’s at her most distincitve. “Nobody stays / Everybody just fades away,” she notes on Stay.
On Sun Keeps Rising, the unrelenting cheer of the mornings seems to taunt her. Daughters rocks like Haim for grown-ups.
It’s patchy — but My Wild West contains her most convincing songs yet.
(Cooking Vinyl)
