Liz Phair — Soberish (Review)
Liz Phair got her rise in the indie/alt scene in the early nineties with her Girlysound tapes. The tracks were raw, candid, and confessional in a way that wasn’t seen from female artists before. The spread of these tapes got her a record deal with Matador in 1993. Her album Exile in Guyville, a song by song response to The Rolling Stone Exile on Main Street, was huge critical success. Guyville saw Phair speaking openly on many topics, most shockingly on “Fuck and Run” and “Flower”. This album cemented Phair as royality in the indie/alt scene. She would continue this rein through her follow up album “Whipsmart”. It would be 2003 that would see Phair’s biggest and most polarizing change in her career with the release of her eponymous record. The sleek pop sound was a turn off to many, but proved to be a success. The years following this release saw Phair diving into a more adult contemporary sound with “Somebody’s Miracle” and tongue-and-cheek experimentation on “Funstyle” to mixed reviews. From here, Phair left the scene to write for television and focus on writing her memoir Horror Stories. Sparks of inspiration were billowing under the surface. Phair was working on a double album with Ryan Adams that was planned for release in late 2016. The project would ultimately be scrapped. Phair would go on to discuss the dissolution of the project and her point of view on the abuse allegations in her book Horror Stories. In 2019, Phair would team back up with producer Brad Wood (who work with her on Guyville, Whipsmart, and several tracks off of whitechocolatespaceegg) on her next record Soberish. It was been 11 years since the release of her last record, Funstyle, so now after waiting with baited breathe, lets explore what Phair’s sober-ish mind has to offer.
In October 2019, Phair released “Good Side”, which would go on to be the 5th song on the album. The track is playful blend of indie rock and pop sounds. Wood’s production and Phair’s writing shine brightly here. “Good Side” sees Phair wanting to end a relationship on a positive note. From the opening,“There’s so many ways to fuck up a life/ I try to be original/ Done plenty more wrong than I ever did right/ Still I’m not a criminal”, you can see Phair’s willingness to own up to her mistakes and failures all to try leave leave relationship “on my good side…”. This track paired beautifully with the release of her memoir Horror Stories and saw Phair on a creative high. Wood’s inclusion of horns, scattered jittering vocal samples, and percussion over Phair’s expert acoustic guitar playing create an indie pop sound that’s both fresh and exciting.
The second track teased off this record is Phair’s take on the relationship between Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, “Hey Lou”. The track is fun romp through the imagined interactions between the two. Phair’s guitar playing really shines on this track. Phair does an outstanding job painting the tremulous relationship between Anderson and Reed. The song breaks down to Phair’s spoken words bridge as Anderson asking Reed “how did that work out for you?” over and over again (referring to the various misadventures and miscomings Reed went through in prior verses).The song would receive a unique music video showing Anderson and Reed as puppets. The playful nature of the video works wonderfully with the track.
The last single released prior to the album is “Spanish Doors”. The track is prime Phair, reminiscent of some of best “autobiographical” tracks like “Only Son”, “Uncle Alvarez”, and “Little Digger”. Wood’s spastic production with it’s off-kilter beats and blips add to the confusion and growing terror the character in the song has. The track follows a woman as she finds out her husband is what can only assume is cheating. The lyrics see woman in her spiral in the situation, “How would I replace you?/ Where would I start?/
And I always had a strange heart/ Pushing past the table, spilling my drink/
Locked up in the bathroom, staring at the sink/ I don’t wanna see anybody I know /I don’t wanna be anywhere /That you and I used to go…”. The chorus adds distorted pitched up vocals that layer over Phair’s. It’s an absolutely fantastic track. There is a single version which brings out Phair’s vocals more, but I prefer the original. It’s one of my top favorites off the record.
Phair has been debuting a few of these tracks in earlier tours. “The Game” was played during Phair’s Amps on the Lawn tour in 2018. I saw her perform this at the Exit/In in Nashville on this tour. This version was nice, played with her touring band, but didn’t fully grab me. Phair’s guitar playing and vocals were fantastic and she put on a fantastic show live. With the drop of her album June 4th, we got her her the song now fully realized with Brad Wood’s production. The song is one of my top picks off the record. The addition of the Brad’s drums and synths give this song a full sense of color. The chorus , with Phair’s layered vocals, is an absolute dream. The track reminds me some of my favorites off of whitechocolatespaceegg, such as “What Makes You Happy”, with it’s blend of acoustic indie pop and electronic elements. The song sees Phair trying to evaluate her relationship with this person. Everytime she thinks she’s got things figured out, the rules change. It’s a must listen off the record.
“In There” sees the return of Casey Rice, who played on Guyville and Whipsmart, on guitar. The song has this calm, almost aquatic, tone. The rippling electronic vocals , humming bass, and synths over Phair’s acoustic guitar and Casey’s soft electric guitar really gives the feel of floating in water. The song revolves around a man that Liz has fallen for, though she’s tried her hardest to fight against these feelings, “But somehow you got in there/ Like smoke under the door, or cold coming in through the floor, you got in there…”. The rippling electronic vocals add to this mental push against these feelings repeating “And I can think of a thousand things that are wrong /And I can think of a thousand reasons why you and I don’t get along…”. The floating feeling and lyrical nature put you right in that lost and confused head space you have when you want someone but you know its not right for you.
“Sheridan Road” is yet another track with a debut during one of her live shows, this time her supporting tour for the Smashing Pumpkins in 2016. At the time, the track was referred to as “Our Dog Days Behind Us”. Phair said the track was not only a love to a long time love that never quite was, but also a love song to the city of Chicago. You can hear beauty in the Phair’s writing in this early version. The album version begins with ambient sounds of a scooter and a thunderstorm. The song reminds me of “Fine Again”, a track from the comeandgetit E.P. released in 2003, in its beautifully soft tone. The lyrics paint the scene of the city and moment like watching a movie, “Straight past Playboy and down to the Loop/ Go up to our penthouse to smoke on the roof/ The city beneath us is sparkling like diamonds /I play you a song called our Dog Days behind us/As lightning is exciting as it lights up Lake Michigan…”. It’s a breathtaking slow song that highlights Phair’s growth as a songwriter masterfully.
“Ba Ba Ba” is bouncy track, opening with the sound of a violin and Liz’s Ba Ba Ba’s that breaks into a bubbly electronic synth/drum beat and Phair’s acoustic guitar. This track jumped out at me immediately after listening to it. It’s full of pop energy, but not overly processed. Wood’s production and Phair stripped down vocals put this song on a whole new level. It’s clever, mature, honest, beautiful, and energetic. There’s a real innocence to the song that Phair works perfectly into the vocals. The song looks very loving back at a relationship that she has a strong reverence for. Behind this innocent playful nature, there’s a sadness that looks back mournfully at what was lost. This can be seen clearly in the songs final lines, “All the sunflower’s faces bow down cause they’re grieving/ For the sound of the end of us /And the only thing that I can recall from that scene/ Are the wings on your back and the gravel underneath my feet ”. It’s a very touching song.
“Soberish” is the last track Phair would debut live before it’s official release. The namesake of the album really blooms from Phair’s soft acoustic guitar into a warm fluttering of synth bass, drums, and electric guitar. The song focuses Phair confronting her feeling honestly with the man she loves and trying to fix the cracks in their relationship. Phair expertly crafts this moment out in this song. My favorite line in the song, “You can be mad if you want, I did a shot cause I’m terrified” , says everything you need to know about her mindset. She so desperately wants to make this work, while atoning for her sins. Hearing the full studio version of this track now, I am enamored.
“Soul Sucker” is a hauntingly dark track with its piano opening and Phair’s opening do’s. Brad’s production gives this song a very menacing feeling. Lyrically, we see Phair dealing with a toxic man that she is ready to be rid of. She’s tired of his controlling high-strung nature. This is a track was one that was initially one I didn’t like, but on second listen it has grown on me quite a bit.
“Lonely Street” is an absolutely breathtaking song and is my favorite off of the record. It opens with Phair’s vocals and electric guitar. Phair has some of her best vocals here, going into her upper range in the chorus. The addition of the soft hum of the bass and electric guitars really call back to one of my all time favorite tracks of Liz’s, “Shatter” off of Guyville. The song builds this aching from a long distance relationship. The need to for your lovers touch when your in darker moments is brought up here, “I’ve been missing you boy like the sun/ I’ve been working so hard, most of it fun/ But some of it grey, like it was today…”. Phair and Wood created song that feels like that loneliness you feel in these moments.
“Dosage” also feels like it would fit right in along with some of Phair’s older catalog of songs from whitechocolatespaceegg. The feeling only goes stronger with the call back to Henry the bartender from “Polyester Bride” off of whitechocolatespaceegg. We’re confronting our wild past. Phair is here to impart her wisdom on the person sitting wasted at this bar. It fine to partake, but to overindulge breeds a long and tremulous path, “Dosage is everything, it hurts you or it helps…”.
“Bad Kitty” is a funky number. This track feels like a cousin to “My Bionic Eyes” from Phair’s eponymous record, albeit much more striped down (more in line with the sound of the comeandgetit E.P. tracks). Phair is out on the prowl. She’s ready to indulge in her vices and, much like a cat, she’s happy has 8 more life in spite of her mischievous and raucous nature. The song is tongue and cheek at points, but never cheesy. It’s a fun listen.
The final track is the very short “Rain Scene” coming in at 48 seconds. It’s a track filled with sound of rainy city (with the sounds of cars, walking, and rain hitting an umbrella). You can hear Phair playing electric guitar in the background singing “I’m gonna make it rain”. It’s a short and sweet way to close out the record.
After 11 years of waiting, not always so patiently, for Liz to put out new music, I have to say I am extremely pleased and excited by this release. It feels so fresh and honest. It’s doesn’t try to recreate Guyville or Whipsmart, but also feels natural progression those albums would have lead to. It’s soft, but still has candid and experimental as Liz’s earlier works were. Liz’s writing has only strengthened during her hiatus from the scene. Each track provides a beautiful variety of sounds and textures that marry with each of the subjects perfectly. Brad Wood’s production on this record is absolutely S class. They truly came together to make magic. It is also very exciting to see other outlets acknowledge this with all generally positive reviews coming up around the record (Metacritic giving the record a 79 out of 100). Much like Juliana Hatfield’s most recent release, I can’t recommend listening to this record enough. It’s one of Liz’s strongest records. I also feel Liz’s spark back in her music, which is beautiful to hear. My favorites off this record:
- “Spanish Doors”
- “The Game”
- “Sheridan Road”
- “Soberish”
- “Ba Ba Ba”
- “Lonely Street”
My overall rating for this record: 9 out of 10 tipsy, soberish feelings
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