FOLLOW UP ALBUM TO JUNO NOMINATED DEBUT
Story by Ashley Lewis
Lindi Ortega’s much awaited sophomore album is released today by Last Gang Records. The album, Cigarettes and Truckstops, holds a similar sound to her debut album, Little Red Boots, but a sound original to Ortega nonetheless.
Ortega, a native Toronto girl, decided to get closer to her musical roots and move to Nashville, Tennessee. Cigarettes and Truckstops was hugely inspired by this move and the outcome is the large blues influence on the album. Her voice is refreshingly unorthodox in the modern country world.
This album follows a love theme; exposing the trials and tribulations of relationships, needs, wanting and yearning. Ortega’s album could get you through a break-up and help you fall back in love over a two song span.
With a raw vocal that sounds similar to Loretta Lynn and the late June Carter – it’s no wonder she’s been called a love child of Johnny Cash. Her song “The Day You Die” sounds like a Cash tribute with it’s quick guitar and upbeat melody. This song has an innocence about it sporting lyrics like “you said you’d love me till the cows come home, well I’m hoping that they all go blind.” Don’t be fooled by those wholesome lyrics though, Ortega has a fiery side that itches to sing about drugs, sex and alcohol.
“Murder Of Crows” is the perfect example of the fire inside Ortega. Her vocal competency and confidence on this track are like a one-two punch. You can hear the fight in her soul as she screams “they ain’t gonna find me out, they ain’t gonna bring me down,” singing about the sinful act of killing someone.
The must hear track for this album is “Don’t Wanna Hear It.” The melody combined with the pissed-off lyrics make it a sexy, sultry song.
Lindi Ortega plays Sound Academy October 20.
