Alt-country songwriter Lydia Loveless has covered a lot of ground between five albums released over the course of 13 years—ranging from the honky-tonk and Southern rock of her early endeavors to more recent forays into pop-leaning territory. That trajectory continues on her latest project, Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way again, which is due out September 22 on Bloodshot Records. As the title suggests, it’s a record documenting a period of reorientation for Loveless, which manages to come through in unique ways.
One such example is the record’s latest single “Sex and Money,” a soaring, catchy pop song dipping its toes in alt-country conventions—including the genre trope of songs about life on the road, which Loveless has thus far done her best to avoid. “This one was written at an Airbnb in Austin on some late tour night where there’s a bottle and a guitar and everyone’s giggly,” she recalls. “I’ve tried really hard to not write songs about ‘the lifestyle of a road dog,’ but this one’s a little more self-deprecation than anything. I’m a horrible hopeless romantic and I will literally just sit in the back of the van and daydream that my crush shows up with flowers and sweeps me off my feet at a random show.
“My poor long-suffering band,” she laughs.
The track comes paired with a music video directed by Katie Harriman which plays into the track’s comedic origins. “I’m most excited that we could highlight Lydia’s comedic acting,” Harriman shares. “We wanted to pay homage to the golden era of music videos—the early 2000s—with some comically raunchy fantasy scenes and over-the-top glamor shots. On top of being an incredibly talented songwriter, Lydia’s also insanely funny. I hope this is just the start for their acting career.”
Check out the video below, and pre-order the record here.
