UNGLAMOROUS - LORI MCKENNA
Lori McKenna’s major-label debut, which comes after four independent releases, may be one this year’s best country albums. McKenna says her songs are a collision of autobiography, observation and a vivid imagination, and there’s plenty of proof here to back her up. The rocking and insightful “I Know You” name-checks D.H. Lawrence and could only be written and sung by a woman who has been married for 19 years to the same man. Likewise, “Your Next Lover” is an interesting and odd look at the insight gained from a lifelong love affair. The title cut, which speaks of drinking wine from a jelly glass, faded curtains and TV dinners, is right of out blue-collar America. And co-producer Tim McGraw, whose wife, Faith Hill, recorded McKenna’s songs on her “Fireflies” album, proves to be a fine harmony partner on “Drinkin’ Problem.”
