Music Review: Weightless

Liz Longley showed up on my radar last year. Her S/T album was in my rotation with regularity. With a rock-soulful-indie sound, the young singer already impressed me with her songwriting and vocals. I was eager to see how her sound developed.

The timing of the album's release couldn't have been better. I looked forward to listening to her new album Weightless on my trip to Ireland. However, technology glitches caused me to delay my listening until the flights back from Dublin. And so in the Chicago airport, I hit play for the first time.

The open tracking "Swing" sets the tone for the entire album. In the face of broken relationships — the highs and lows almost playfully found in Longley's voice — there is confidence and security. There is a direct and sultry response of defiance evidenced in "Weightless," "Say Anything You Want," and "What's The Matter."

Vocally, Longley's voice is even more dynamic this time around. The range of exposure is vast within a single track and throughout the album. Without breaking momentum the stronger vocals carry through more mild and soft ballads such as "Rescue My Heart" and "Never Really Mine."

To conclude the album, "Electricity" turns the entire album in a haunting direction only to be followed up beautifully by "Only Love This Time Around." Both songs set up the climatic "Oxygen" which is currently one of my least favorite songs. But the vision of the song, it's lyrics, and the overall temper of the album makes for a fitting conclusion.

If Weightless is any indication, Liz Longley will be one of the better female songwriter artists for a number of decades to come.