Liz Longley -- Liz Longley | Album Reviews

Something that I love about Liz Longley is the fact that she is a very visual songwriter. Most of my favorite songs on the album have to do with apartments (at least according to my visualizations). This might not be a coincidence. I'm about to start a pretty big chapter in my life, leasing my very first apartment and you can bet your bottom dollar that this album will be going along on the ride with me. I just can't get this album "Outta My Head."

Outta My Head -- This song is a fantastic opener to an even more fantastic album. One of the things that I love about this song is that a complete story shines through, jumps off the page, and projects very specific images into my brain, which is something that I always appreciate as a music lover. The vocals on this track are truly some of the most beautiful on the album. One of my favorite things about this song is that the choruses change throughout, which helps with the story telling as a whole. Overall, this song is definitely one of my favorites on the album and is such a strong track as a whole.

Skin and Bones -- This radio-ready track is a little bit different sounding than the rest of the album because it's much more obviously country infused than the rest of her tracks. Something that's particularly special about this song is that the lyrics match the instrumentals, which is a hard thing to do when producing a track. Plus,"Skin and Bones" has a gorgeous instrumental outro that really adds to the aesthetic of the song as a whole.

Memphis -- This song was admittedly my first love off of this album, so it'll always hold a special place in my heart. "Memphis" was definitely a good choice for a single, especially since Longley's vocals are a force to be reckoned with, especially in her higher register. At this point, you can probably tell that I love visual songwriting, and this song is no exception. Longley certainly has a knack for effectively portraying visuals through her songwriting, and "Memphis" is a great example of this.

Bad Habit -- The song title "Bad Habit" is more popular than you'd realize (I have 3 on my iPod alone). With a popular song title like that, you have to be able to compete, and Longley's song is certainly a front runner in my eyes. With a catchy intro that's country infused, the track had my heart right from the beginning. I really appreciate it when songwriters compare people to substances, like Noah Gundersen's "Cigarettes" and Elizabeth Mossell's own "Bad Habit." It's a comparison that just doesn't get old to me. The lyrics "even after all the love me made, all the records that we spun..." in the second verse are reminiscent of the album's opening track, "Outta My Head," which say "I found your letters and that John Martin record that we spun until it was dead."

You can purchase Liz Longley's self-titled album on iTunes here!