Pitchfork

[Posted Tuesday, November 4th, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

By any measure, Mary Lou Lord has had a bit of an odd career so far. Starting out playing subways in Boston, she attracted the attention of Kill Rock Stars and recorded a couple of EP's, put out one album on Sony's ill-fated WORK label, and then proceeded to mostly disappear for a bit. Then she had a child, which apparently provided her with the proper motivation to head back into the subways, of course-- hey, she's gotta provide. Her most recent release, 2001's Live City Sounds, collected a number of those subterranean performances, and was relatively well received and not nearly as crappy-sounding as you might suppose for a single-mic, in-the-subway affair.

Numerous reports have placed Lord in London over much of the last year, recording with long-time collaborator Nick Saloman of The Bevis Frond. Now she's back in the states, the album is finished, and she's even planning to play a proper tour or two. Take that, commuters of Boston: you're just going to have to listen to the crazy old guy with the accordion and the drum machine from now on.

According to David Gwiazdowski of Rubric Records, the new album is titled Baby Blue, after the included Badfinger cover (also recently covered by Portastatic-- getting quite a workout for one '70s power-pop song), and consists largely of Nick Saloman tunes penned specifically for Lord. She'll be backed by a full band on the album, which is scheduled to be released on February 24th, 2004. Here's the tracklist (all songs by Nick Saloman except where noted):

01 The Wind Blew All Around Me [The Bevis Frond]
02 Long Way From Tupelo [Mary Lou Lord]
03 43
04 Baby Blue [Badfinger]
05 Cold Kilburn Rain
06 Farming It Out
07 The Inhibition Twist [The Bevis Frond]
08 Because He's Leaving
09 Someone Always Talks
10 Turn Me Round [Saloman/Lord]
11 Stars Burn Out [The Bevis Frond]
12 Ron
13 Fearless [Pink Floyd]
14 Old Tin Tray

Lord has played the occasional show recently, and according to fansite Not Necessarily The Best Homepage, a more comprehensive U.S. and European tour is planned for spring 2004. We will, of course, bring you the dates when they're available.

Lord also recently commented on the death of close friend Elliott Smith, who played some guitar on Got No Shadow and wrote one of Lord's signature tunes, "I Figured You Out." "He sort of shut everyone out for the last three or four years," Lord told the Associated Press. "He just became really reclusive... maybe he was in a downward spiral and he didn't want to take everyone else with him."