Lindi Ortega
Faded Gloryville
Release Date: Aug 7, 2015
Genre(s): Country
Record label: Last Gang
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Album Review: Faded Gloryville by Lindi Ortega
Great, Based on 5 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
Canada-born Lindi Ortega, who has lived in Nashville since her 2013 album Tin Star, has a tremulous vibrato that bears comparison with country forebears Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. She gives every syllable meaning and emotional heft. Faded Gloryville is steeped in mid-20th century southern Americana, thanks in part to John Paul White, formerly of the Civil Wars, and the Alabama Shakes’ keyboard player Ben Tanner, who take a share in writing (the heartbreaker Someday Soon is a standout track) and production.
Based on rating 4/5
Lindi OrtegaFaded Gloryville(Last Gang)Rating: 4 out of 5 starsIt took four producers working in two cities (Muscle Shoals and Nashville) to realize singer/songwriter Lindi Ortega’s Americana vision on her fourth album, but the results were worth it. Based on recording location alone the varied musical approach to these 10 cuts veers from straight country, to rockabilly, R&B, rootsy rock and even some pop, all connected by Ortega’s trilling, bittersweet, instantly recognizable vocals. Regardless of the style, Ortega’s lyrics have typically ventured to the darker sides of love and life and that hasn’t changed.
Based on rating 8/10
Nashville-based, Toronto-bred singer-songwriter Lindi Ortega is hardly a typical country artist. Her music draws from a deeper well than many of her contemporaries, pulling in elements of southern soul, western swing, jazz and blues to mingle with her outlaw country leanings. Decidedly not of her time — new album Faded Gloryville feels more in tune with the sonic trends of the mid-1970s than the mid 2010s — Ortega revels in her outsider persona, and her growing fan base loves her for it.An outspoken critic of the sameness of today's country music, Ortega is quick in interviews to condemn what she sees as the "generic" stuff that dominates the radio.
Based on rating 7.0/10
On her sixth album in 15 years, Toronto native Lindi Ortega sounds like she’s been through the industry wringer. After laboring for years as a country outlier in a city better known for indie rock, she self-released two albums and a handful of EPs in the 2000s, weathered one ill-fated major-label signing, then toured as a back-up singer for Brandon Flowers. At the beginning of this decade, she signed with Last Gang Records, releasing two well-reviewed albums that introduced her studiously forlorn vocals and twang-goth sound to a slowly growing audience.
Opinion: Excellent
Faded Gloryville is the third full-length Toronto native Lindi Ortega has released since moving to Nashville in 2011, and obviously she’s learned a thing or two. It has some of the year’s best country songs, plus a groove-heavy take on the Bee Gees’ classic To Love Somebody. Torch-song opener Ashes makes a statement from mile zero, with Ortega pining for a lover to come back to her.
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