Lori Lieberman
Album: Bricks Against The Glass
Label: Drive On
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.lorilieberman.com

Lori Lieberman is, of course, best known for the song "Killing Me Softly With His Song", which was based on her experience of seeing Don McLean sing "Empty Chairs". Lori felt as though Don was singing directly to her about her life. The song became her debut single in 1972 but was soon overtaken in the charts by Roberta Flack's more "poppy"version. Lori released six albums in the 1970's before becoming disillusioned with the music industry. Lori retreated to the hills of Malibu to raise her three children before returning to music in the mid-1990's with the album "A Thousand Dreams", which was nominated for the Golden Note Award. A further five albums followed, the most recent being 2009's"Gun Metal Sky"[released in Europe in 2010 on V2 Records as "Takes Courage"] and 2011's"Bend Like Steel". These have now been followed by Lori's latest album "Bricks Against The Glass".

I have to admit that apart from "Killing Me Softly", I knew little of Lori's music before hearing this latest album. Somehow I missed out on both her 1970's output and her more recent work. This has been my loss because it is clear from this new album that Lori is so much more than a "one-hit-wonder". She is a songwriter of great depth, whether writing personal songs or protest songs, both of which are present on this album. Lori wrote all of the songs on the album [two are co-writes] and also produced it alongside her husband Joseph Cali [who played "Joey"in Saturday Night Fever].

Lori has assembled a fine group of musicians to play on the album including guitarists Lyle Workman [Beck,Sting] and Jason Orme [Alanis Morrisette, Sarah McLachlan],drummer Ryan MacMillan [Matchbox 20] and pianist Timothy Drury [Whitesnake, The Eagles].

The album gets off to a great start with "Ticket To Leave"in which the singer addresses a leader [the President ?] and asks him to "save our house if you're able, put food on our table, help me find a common job I can do". She wants to believe his promises but she can't pay her mortgage with hope, so she decides to get out, to go somewhere, she doesn't know where but any place is better. Set to a rolling folk-rock beat with banjo and violin , this song has a powerful message.

In contrast, "Truly"is a romantic ballad with a jazzy feel to it which is ripe for being covered by other artists, just as Roberta Flack covered "Killing Me Softly".

"Lottery" is a song of regret in which the subject "didn't see the lies he told me". Lori turns in a lovely vocal performance, full of emotion, accompanied by her own acoustic guitar, together with piano and strings.

The title track "Bricks Against The Glass" takes us to country-rock territory [indeed, the intro sounds uncannily like The Eagles].The song, which is driven by John Rosen's banjo and chiming electric guitars, looks back to a time when "we were looking for a cause". It's a cracking song and Lori must think so too, as it re-appears at the end of the album in an unplugged version, with the banjo more upfront than on the "electric" version. Great driving song!

"On These Streets/San Francisco" seems to be taking us back to Lori's time, in the early 1970's, when she was part the Los Angeles Troubador scene which included the likes of Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne. With its delicate acoustic guitar, piano and electric guitar, this song has a classic West Coast 1970's singer-songwriter feel to it.

"Rise" is a very different kettle of fish -it is a protest song- more Greenwich Village than Laurel Canyon. It was written and partially recorded in Amsterdam during Lori's recent tour there and features Dutch singer Celine Cairo, together with Jonathan Clark on vocals. The song is a call to action, to "Take a stand, put your money where your mouth is" and speak up. Apparently, on that tour this song brought audiences to their feet , especially the ending, which features the three singers singing unaccompanied.

"The End Of Our Story" has a similar theme to Jimmy Webb's "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", as it begins" By the time you get this, I'll be gone". As the title suggests, this is a song about a break-up and the melancholic mood is enhanced by the doleful strings. However, the song ends on a note of hope as the final lines are"It's the start of my story".

The next song"It's Another New Day"is rather more upbeat as it talks about finding "a quiet place to call my own". It begins with an acoustic guitar but soon the electric guitars move in and there are several great solos, employing wah-wah to great effect.

"Elephants" is another of Lori's beautiful love songs and is about having the chance to fix what is broken, so that the titular elephants [in the room] can move on, and that love can be restored. Songs like this show that "Killing Me Softly" was no fluke and that it was just the first step in the career of a great songwriter.

When I first heard "The Rest Will Follow", it reminded me greatly of Mary Chapin Carpenter. That in itself is no great problem, as the latter is one of my very favourite singer-songwriters.

In summary, this is a superb album by a highly accomplished singer songwriter. I can't believe that I overlooked her music for so long but I am very glad that I have now discovered it.

Peter Cowley