Lizzie No – Halfsies
Plenty of music has been created for, and appeared in, video games. Categorizing a stand-alone album as a sort of video game, however, is a far different concept. Brooklyn-based Lizzie No’s latest record, Halfsies, takes that approach with the introduction of Miss Freedomland, a character that represents both No and, well, you and I – her audience – and all of the shit we go through. And the “quest” in this game is much less “Resident Evil” than capturing the up-close-and-personal moments found in something like the MAX version of “The Last of Us” – wrestling with decisions that may not save the world, but certainly shape a life.
This quest of sorts begins with the title track, with No strumming out an acoustic rhythm, with mentions of asteroids and a spaceman, but it’s more about establishing a baseline – a “Street Level,” as she calls it: “Stayed out all night dancing/Left my sandals in a cab/Woke up caved in, felt the loss.” The music is bolstered by clarinet and backing vocals from Allison Russell and strings from Attacca Quartet, but the track ends on No’s plaintive vocals, a character alone.
“Sleeping in the Next Room” illustrates where that loneliness came from. Even while joined in gorgeous harmonies from Kate Victor and Sadie Dupuis, No details how lonely and alone can meet in one tiny apartment – “Barely room there for my queen bed/Didn’t notice the canyon yawning in between us.” Later on, we enter “The Heartbreak Store,” a shop we can imagine Miss Freedomland patronizing, or maybe even running; a place to leave your pain aside – “Bring your memories; his house keys can’t stay on the ring no more.” With pathos aplenty, pretty harmonies and pedal steel, it’s the type of song you should be hearing on your FM dial (are you listening, Big Country Radio?).
The rock songs on Halfsies are what really bring the video game concept home. “Lagunita” was the single release that first perked up my ears, and it features a character who’s (begrudgingly) maturing – “I’m growing soft in my old age/I go where I’m wanted, I leave before closing.” “Annie Oakley” begins – acoustic – with a lost night at the titular, sundown-town hotel: “I should get some sleep/But I’ve got half a bottle left.” Guitars kick in while Miss Freedomland ponders ending her quest – “Won’t you tell me when it’s time to kill the dream?” But, by the end of the album, in the gorgeous, heartland-ish closer “Babylon,” both No and her character have decided to push on, obstacles be damned – “Then the devil stood behind us, the deep blue sea beyond/So we pressed the gas and we didn’t look back to glance at Babylon.” The game (or at least this first version of it) concludes and, while there are no heroes – only survivors – on Halfsies, this latest quest definitely finds No leveling up.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Lagunita” – Released late in 2023, this quickly became one of my favorite rock songs of the year.
Halfsies was produced by Graham Richman, Lizzie No and Patrick Dillett, engineered by Dillet, Richman and Drew Carroll, mixed by Dillet and Mikhail Pivovarov and mastered by Greg Obis. All songs written by LIzzie No. Musicians on the album include No (vocals, acoustic guitar, harp), Allison Russell (background vocals, clarinet), Fred Eltringham (drums, percussion), Graham Richman (bass guitar, celeste, Mellotron, programming, electric guitar, string arranging, piano, electric organ), Josh Grange (pedal steel, mandolin, baritone guitar), Katherine Hyun (violin), Nathan Schram (viola), Amy Schroeder (violin), Andrew Yee (cello), Mikhail Pivovarov (bass guitar), Brian Seligman (acoustic guitar), John Daise (bass guitar), Donovan Duvall (electric piano, electric organ), Daniel Kleederman (acoustic guitar, ambient recording), Barry Stephenson (uptight bass) and Katie Victor, Sadie Dupuis, Brian Dunne, Ali Fenwick, Jessi Olsen, Yaz Hoffman-Shahin, Hannah Martinson (background vocals).
Go here to order Halfsies (out January 19): https://orcd.co/halfsies
Check out tour dates here: http://www.lizzieno.com/tour