Soberish
is a suitable title for an album that hangs suspended between a variety of states of mind. It's not just the netherworld of navigating sobriety with a slight buzz:
exists in a space between the mainstream and the fringe, a place where the boundaries separating the past and present blur. Fittingly, it's a homecoming of sorts for
Liz Phair
, marking a reunion with
Brad Wood
, the collaborator who co-produced her early indie albums. Anybody expecting
to be a return to
Phair
's nervy, lo-fi '90s will be sorely disappointed by its subdued vibe or how the album often flirts with the mellow melodicism of
Somebody's Miracle
, the album that closed out her run at the AAA charts back in 2005. This soft hangover is surprising yet logical.
only released one album, the deliberately off-the-cuff 2010 LP
Funstyle
, between
and 2021's
, an extended period of quiet that encompassed a project designed as an answer to
the Beatles
'
White Album
that was abandoned due to a falling out with producer
Ryan Adams
. This makes
her first full album in 16 years, yet the striking thing about the record is that it doesn't feel high-stakes. Songs fade in and drift off, melodies come into focus then float away, there isn't a sense of urgency even to the rockers, of which there are a handful. This aesthetic isn't far removed from the magpie collage of
Exile in Guyville
or
Whip-Smart
, but
isn't attempting to re-create the spare, evocative guitar-rock of those indie records. The mixes are soft and lush, with vocal harmonies, keyboards, and effects plastered over the submerged guitars, a sound that's painterly yet pop. It suits
's songs, which are pointed and poignant, alternating sketches with stories. She finds time to slip in a bawdy joke -- "Bad Kitty," which smashes the nail upon the head -- that may be broader than the rest of the album, yet it fits
, as it rhymes with the erotically charged "Ba Ba Ba" and the knowing wit of "Dosage." "Bad Kitty" is followed by the soundscape coda "Rain Scene," a sequence that emphasizes how
isn't exactly tidy. The appealing thing about
is how it holds two thoughts (and sounds) simultaneously, a record that revives the spirit of
's earliest albums while casually leaning into her middle age. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine