Mary Lou Lord "Baby Blue"

I like Mary Lou Lord’s music. It’s much harder to not like her music, because her music’s very simple, very basic, and quite succinct. Look at a picture of Mary Lou and you’ll know exactly what kind of music she makes—that’s how basic her music is. Lovely folk made by a smiling girl, there’s nothing better than that, is there? (I still love “Camden Town Rain,” too.) You know exactly what Mary Lou’s going to give you, and she never fails to deliver.

Though Baby Blue, her second full-length studio album, is a bit of a transition for Mary Lou—it features a full backing band—in many ways it’s just exactly what you’ve come to expect. Covers of Pink Floyd’s “Fearless” and Badfinger’s “Baby Blue” are, once again, indicative of Mary Lou having the ability to get inside songs you know and love and making them her own. Most of the songs on Baby Blue were written by her hero/collaborator Nick Saloman,, and once again she’s rather deftly served as a wonderful interpreter of his work. The only time the album falters is on “The Inhibition Twist,” because it’s just too silly for my taste. “Farming It Out” is perhaps the most moving song on the collection, as it will instantly remind you of the much missed (and Lord’s close friend) Elliott Smith.

For some reason, Mary Lou doesn’t give herself enough credit as a songwriter. She’s written some excellent songs in the past (“His Indie World,” and “Camden Town Rain” immediately come to mind), and “Long Way From Tupelo,” which sounds like a long-lost bar-rock hit from 1995 (thanks in part to some really excellent piano and harmonica), is easily one of her best compositions. “43” and “Turn Me Round,” both collaborations with Saloman, are also excellent. In this regard, Baby Blue is a tantalizing treat, because it shows that if Mary Lou decided to release an album of originals, it would be excellent.

Will that happen any time soon? Who knows. After all, this is only her second studio album in her career, so it’s obvious she’s in no big hurry to release new records. But really, when you’ve got a great record like Baby Blue, you’ll enjoy it for ages and won’t need a new record every year. Baby Blue is an unsurprising record from one of today’s most underrated singers.

--Joseph Kyle