Elizabeth Moen - Wherever You Aren't (2022)

Elizabeth Moen is very bold on Wherever You Aren’t. In fact, she’s bold to the point of almost being unhinged. It is an album that snapped the handbrake off and hurled it out of the window, uttering, ‘We won’t need this where we’re going’ as it hurtles along. It’s a force to behold, and a boon to ride home on.

The album is resplendent with hard truths and the powerful tracks ask why such verities should be cushioned. It’s not wild or overbearing, but it does joyously assert somewhere along the line that refinement is for cowards. This headstrong production and performance is a fantastic thing to come across in the post-pandemic age and offers up a wallop of escapism. Put it this way, when you listen to Wherever You Aren’t, you don’t think of much else.

While there are certainly some brilliant tracks on display and catchy anthems like ‘You Know I Know’ that you’ll be revisiting forevermore, it is the performance of Moen that perhaps stands out above all else. The band are brilliantly tight, slide guitar is certainly back in style (see also Angel Olsen), and the songwriting sees Moen hit her peak, but it’s the bristling power of Moen that truly twists the ear. I think it’s the sincerity behind her unfurling display that proves so effectual.

As she explained of the title track: “This song is about coming back to a place you know someone from your past will be. As good as it would be to run into them, striking up a conversation would only strike up old pain. Sometimes the best thing is to just smile and keep trying to move forward. ‘Wherever you are, wherever you aren’t, that’s okay.’”

It’s a pastiche akin to Bob Dylan’s ‘If You See Her, Say Hello’, and it holds a similar sense of experiential wisdom. This is a theme woven throughout the album. It has enough hooks to be a small fishing tackle display, and each of them is baited with the depth of a lived-in authority. Coupled with the command of Moen’s belting timbre, this offers up a sense of deliverance, a sense of moving on, and the pop sensibilities show how joyful that can actually be.