AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
People have compared Lindi Ortega's voice to Dolly Parton's but with a darker edge. The Canadian singer got a big break back in 2008, a deal with a major label. But she was dropped when the company decided to put its resources into another artist - Lady Gaga. Ortega has fared better after a move to Nashville, but even as her star keeps rising, she's titled her sixth album, "Faded Gloryville." Reviewer Meredith Ochs considers why.
MEREDITH OCHS, BYLINE: Lindi Ortega's new album, "Faded Gloryville" isn't about being a has-been or a never-was. It's about those moments in life when hope gives way to uncertainty.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FADED GLORYVILLE")
LINDI ORTEGA: (Singing) There ain't no stars in faded Gloryville. We've chased our dreams into the ground.
OCHS: For a lot of people, there are times of intense introspection. As a musician, Ortega experienced many of these moments, playing gigs to few, working odd jobs to pay the rent, maybe wondering if the world even knew what to make of a Goth-looking Canadian who plays country music. But most of Ortega's songs examine what happens when the uncertainty is about relationships.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TELL IT LIKE IT IS")
ORTEGA: (Singing) Before I say goodbye, before I tell you I should go, if you want me, baby, you're going to have to let me know 'cause I can't read your mind.
OCHS: Sometimes languid and lovelorn, Lindi Ortega mines deep Southern soul music to expand her torchy twang. It's a leap in sophistication from her previous albums. Working with musicians from the Civil Wars and the Alabama Shakes, Ortega gets a boost from a dose of the famed Muscle Shoals sound of the 1960s and '70s. Forged in an Alabama studio and heard on hundreds of R-and-B and rock records, it's known for a distinct reverb-y thwack of guitar, a fringe of keyboards and the gentle echo of the room itself.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SOMEDAY SOON")
ORTEGA: (Singing) From this lonesome, lonely road I've been on for so long. I've been spending all my nights on someone that just ain't right.
OCHS: Lindi Ortega spends a lot of her new album trying to find her footing in an ephemeral romance, or looking for a way out of one that's expiration date has long passed. At the same time, she's self-assured, displaying the confidence of someone who has overcome challenging times and grown into their own skin.
On this song, Ortega's cheeky kiss-off is directed at a guy, but it's also a challenge to everyone else to accept her as she is - genre-defying in both her music and her personal style.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I AIN'T THE GIRL")
ORTEGA: (Singing) You can keep your suit and tie, find a pretty little wife, find the girl you're looking for. I ain't the girl that lives next door. I ain't the girl for you.
CORNISH: Meredith Ochs is a talk show host and DJ at Sirius XM Radio. She reviewed "Faded Gloryville" by Lindi Ortega.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I AIN'T THE GIRL")
ORTEGA: (Singing) I like 'em rugged with tattoos. You drive a really fancy car. I like a truck with rusty parts. I ain't the girl you're looking for. I ain't the girl that lives next door. I ain't the girl for you. So go ahead, darling, find somebody new. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.