Lawrence Rothman - Good Morning, America (2021) Hi-Res

Lawrence Rothman is fascinating... 2017 found this dandy on The Book of Law, a first (Qobuzissime) album of cathartic songs about this Californian's search for a non-binary (genderqueer) identity. With an androgynous face - and voice - for the glossy pages of fashion magazines, a passion for transformism worthy of photographer Cindy Sherman (he changes his look for every video) and a handpicked cast of friends in support (Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, Angel Olsen, Marissa Nadler, Duff McKagan of Guns N'Roses, Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint), Lawrence Rothman, who says they love Bukowski as much as R. Kelly, looks at first glance like an ephemeral flavour of the month. But that is certainly not the case, and Good Morning America proves it... While the very 80's Book of Law evoked Talk Talk, Bowie, Japan, Depeche Mode, Prince and Ariel Pink, this 2021 release takes some of these influences in a more classical direction, somewhere between new-age Americana and airy, lofty folk. A diversity that makes Lawrence Rothman say that Good Morning America, is about finding a kind of music where "you don't have to check a male or female box ever again and bands can sound like Tom Petty and Anohni on the same record. This album purges the isolation, toxic masculinity and pain of the past year in search of a new dawn." The Californian musician put this record together with four eclectic, charismatic vocalists that they pulled out from their 5-star address book. The queen of Americana Lucinda Williams, Amanda Shires, Caroline Rose and Katie Pruitt... The titular America resonates on every song (they are mostly ballads), and the album has the feel about it of the great outdoors (Benadryl and Cereal) or reverb-saturated folk (Thrash the West). Throughout, America's codes and heritage are elegantly mocked by this strange alien crooner named Lawrence Rothman...