ALBUM REVIEW: Lola Kirke’s ‘Trailblazer’ Blends Down Home Country and Rock ‘N Roll

This has been a good year for Lola Kirke. In January, she released her memoir Wild West Village (Simon & Schuster), and she appeared in the movie Sinners, which hits IMAX theaters in April. And this week, Kirke released her third full-length album, Trailblazer, a swirling blend of country and rock.

Jangly guitars open into an atmospheric sonic landscape on the title track, a twirling kaleidoscope of sound that’s a bright affirmation of self-worth and identity: “when you feel like a failure, baby you’re a trailblazer.” Layers of soaring pedal steel under twangy guitars on the country weeper “241s,” an ode to drinking to forget the lover who’s left.

The pulsating rhythms of the cinematic “Zeppelin III” evoke the ups and downs of a parental relationship (her father Simon Kirke is a founding member of Free and Bad Company): “I guess he tried his best/And I have to believe he would have taught me how to love/But all he knew was how to leave.” The twirl-around-the-dance-floor rhythms of “Mississippi, My Sister, Elvis, and Me” celebrates the joys and struggles sisterhood as they reveal themselves on a road trip through Mississippi, New Orleans, and Memphis.

Shimmering sounds echo through the psychedelic country song “Hungover Thinkin’,” while the country rocker “Marlboro Lights & Madonna” combines the sounds of early Taylor Swift with the throaty vocals of Debbie Harry. The album closes with the propulsive paean to the beauties of her hometown, “Bury Me in New York City.”

Trailblazer showcases Kirke’s crystalline vocals and introspective songwriting, blending down home country while retaining a propulsive rock and roll sensibility.

Lola Kirke’s Trailblazer is out March 20 via One Riot Records.