Album Review by Bradley Christensen
Nikki Lane – Highway Queen
Record Label: New West Records
Release Date: February 17 2017
Country isn’t a genre of music that I listen to a lot, and it’s kind of a shame, because there are a lot of very talented, interesting, and wonderful artists in the genre. I mean, I like what I like, though, so I won’t get upset that I don’t listen to a lot. Hell, I won’t force myself to listen to and/or review artists, because my blog needs more diversity in my reviews. I already have a ton of diversity, especially if you look at my recent slew of reviews. I’ve went from covering deathcore (and some death metal, at least the very tail end of my deathcore kick), hip-hop, indie-rock, and now some country (I’ll be covering a ton of emo / post-hardcore albums, too, so look out for those). My blog, as well as my music taste in general, has a lot of diversity behind it, and I don’t need to justify that by reviewing stuff that I don’t care much about. With that said, though, I still listen to the occasional country album or two. See, country music is one of those genres that I don’t listen to a lot, but if I find an artist that seems interesting, I’ll give them a listen. Sometimes I’m in the mood for it, but it’s not a genre that I actively listen to. I kind of talked about this recently, actually, but in the sense that I was talking more about specific bands, not entire genres of music. There are those bands that you like, but you don’t necessarily keep up with, for whatever reason. It’s not that you don’t like them, but you don’t love them enough to actively follow them that closely. I felt that way with the indie-rock band Spoon, although their last album, They Want My Soul, was great. It was one of my favorite albums of 2014, and their new one, Hot Thoughts, is one of my favorites of this year, but they’re not one of my favorite bands. I think that’s just because I don’t know their discography enough.
Anyway, country music as a whole is kind of the same way for me. I like it, but I don’t actively follow it. Honestly, if it were for my mom being a fan, I wouldn’t listen to it all that much, but that’s not a bad thing. You don’t have to like anything you don’t want to. You’re not forced to listen to anything that you don’t want to, either, but some people think the opposite. I have nothing against country music, but it’s not a genre that I listen to actively. I don’t follow the genre closely, or even care that much about it, but when an artist comes along that I really like, I treat them like any other album. I’ll listen to them, I’ll talk about them, and I’ll promote them, because that’s what I do with music I like. I wouldn’t treat the album any different. People have this weird idea that country music isn’t cool to like, even though it’s one of the highest selling genres of music of all time, but you shouldn’t be ashamed about what you like. My last few reviews have been on some country albums, the first being the recently released It’s Me, by Oklahoma singer-songwriter Chris Bullard, which is an album that I enjoy quite a lot, honestly. The next one, and the one that I just reviewed, was Paul Cauthen’s latest LP, 2016’s My Gospel, which I liked a lot. It’s a great album, but its lyrics were not that interesting. Its sound was great, though, because it had a unique soul and gospel-infused country sound. The first two albums there have something in common, but it’s not what you think – I never heard of these artists before I listened to them. I happened to just randomly find them on Bandcamp, but the last album in the trio of country albums that I’ve been into is one from an artist that I have heard of, that being outlaw country singer-songwriter Nikki Lane, and her third album, Highway Queen.
I can thank NoiseTrade for helping me to come across her music, though, because NoiseTrade does this thing where they have a weekly email (not even weekly, it’s more like twice a week, I believe), promoting a lot of the newly added releases, or artists that are releasing a new album. Lane was in the process of releasing Highway Queen pretty soon, so they put up her sophomore LP for free download, as well as a song from Highway Queen, I believe, but I never got around to hearing it. Either way, I wanted to give Highway Queen a listen, because I wanted to listen to at least a couple of country albums this year. I like being able to dip my toes into the genre, so to speak, even though I could listen to a lot of indie releases if I wanted to. Highway Queen came out in February, so I’m a month late on this, but better late than never, right? That’s true, because Highway Queen is a great album, folks. That shouldn’t be a surprise, though, since the other two country albums I’ve reviewed have been great, too. I can’t say it’s perfect, unfortunately, because it does have some issues that bog the album down somewhat for me. It’s funny, because this LP reminds me a bit of Paul Cauthen’s My Gospel. Not from its sound, as Highway Queen is mainly an outlaw country album (with some elements of folk), but there was one major aspect that didn’t do a lot for me, ultimately preventing me from thinking it was a masterpiece. With Cauthen’s album, the problem was that the lyrics just weren’t that interesting, despite being written well, but the problem with Highway Queen is that I just don’t care for Nikki Lane as a vocalist. I mean, her voice is good, but it’s just nothing great. She has some range, and some intensity, which works pretty well on the more rollicking tracks, like the lyrically-biting “700,00 Rednecks,” or “Jackpot,” but the back half of this LP is chock full of ballads, and her vocals don’t fit with that kind of sound at all.
Although I don’t care for Lane as a vocalist, at least on the slower tracks throughout this 36-minute project, the lyrics and sound of this record are great. The lyrics are written incredibly well, and the opening track, “700,000 Rednecks,” is a perfect example of that. The song is about the music industry and what it takes to get the top, and in Lane’s case, she’d have to try to appeal to the “redneck” demographic, even though that’s not the kind of artist she is. When Lane goes for being more vulnerable, such as in “Forever Lasts Forever,” or “Lay You Down,” and speaking more about relationships, it works very well. The lyrics on this record are very nice, well-written, clever, and enjoyable, as just much as its sound. The sound is more on the outlaw country side of the genre, and it won’t be on mainstream radio any time soon, but there are some elements of folk, too, which I like, despite how Lane’s voice doesn’t match the tone of the instrumentation at all. It’s not even that she’s a bad singer, but I just can’t get into her voice. That’s a big deal, too, and I’d argue it’s a bit more of an issue than not being into the lyrics all that much on My Gospel, because I still enjoy the music and vocals, so I could get into the album a bit. I just didn’t pay attention to the lyrics, but the vocals are front and center throughout the album. It’s not like anything else is bad, either, because the rest of the album is great. It’s awesome stuff, but it’s easier to get into bad / decent lyrics than it is to get into a bad / decent vocalist, even if everything else around it is wonderful. I wish I was into this album more, because it’s a very well put together album, it’s just that the vocals bog it down for me. No matter how I feel about it, I’m glad that I listened to it, but I’d still say it’s a great record. It would be unfair to say that it’s no good, because there was one element that I didn’t like. It’s worth the listen, especially if you’re a country fan, but this is easily my least favorite of the three country albums I’ve been into.
When Nikki Lane sings about a woman with “tight blue jeans and long black hair” who will “come to play but she won’t stay,” on the title track to her third album, it’s difficult to imagine that’s not autobiographically based. As these songs progress, it’s clear that whether she’s describing a woman with a “Foolish Heart” who is infatuated, and somewhat concerned, with a lover who has her “hanging by a word” or expressing her desire to get to the top because “there ain’t no one gonna make me stop,” these tunes hew awfully close to her own feelings and aspirations. Click here to continue reading:
If anyone should ever desire to know or understand me, let them start here. On the open road, preferably 2 lane highway. Let them wake so early they get to experience the joyous whirlwind of having your morning caffeine hit with the lift of morning mist at sunrise. Let them drive so late and long that they feel the ache of their bones release as they crawl into the back of a van or truck bed and let truckstop sounds, freeway traffic, desert crickets, or ocean waves lull them to sleep. Let them surrender to the rhythm and bass of late night car karaoke, to the steel guitar of a craftfully curated 90s country afternoon playlist, into the midnight edm beats that keep the tires off the rumble bars. Let them feel the tug of the stretching yellow and white lines on their clavicle until their rib cage learns to crave the blur on the never met horizon. When they know that particular sensation, the energetic drawing at the bend of the eighth rib that longs to chase the fading light forever, then they'll at least be close to understanding what its like to feel the most secure in perpetual motion.
If home has to be a place, it's paved in asphalt and never far from anywhere. It's a steel cage balanced on rubber, propelled by combustion and fate, filled with the people I love- napping, singing, consuming vistas through their cornea. It's endless possibilities and gone in an instant if it needs to be. ❤️
