Liv Greene - Deep Feeler (2024) Hi-Res

We like to think that artists have the answers and concisely write them into lyrics that we merely need to decode and apply to our own lives. Really, though, some of the best songs give you the feeling that the artist is, in fact, using the act of songwriting to figure their own shit out. Liv Greene’s sophomore album, Deep Feeler, is just what the title tells us it us – a young, queer woman truly parsing through her feelings for the first time and coming to terms with her place in this mean old world. The result is 10 perfectly crafted songs that may be the best country record of the year.

Deep Feeler’s title track leads the album off, and it serves as a sort of mission statement. Centered (as all the songs are) on Greene’s acoustic guitar and sublime voice, the slowing building tune has Greene admitting to a core characteristic that some might consider a red flag, but is crucial to her very being – “I’m a deep feeler, but I ain’t no healer/Honey I can’t change you. But don’t you want to feel it all?” The question of emotional equilibrium also comes up in “Made It Mine Too,” but in a much different way. The pedal-steel led tune, which is also one of several tracks to feature Sarah Jarosz on mandolin, contains maybe the best description of codependency I’ve heard – “See, I thought your hurt would stay your hurt/And I’d take it off when I wanted to/But I’ve found that ain’t true/’Cause you made it mine too.” And, while Greene (who calls this album “completely biographical”) will eventually begin to push herself away from this relationship, “Made It Mine Too” keeps her, for the moment, heartbreakingly stuck – “Why can’t I make you happy/Why can’t I make you whole?”

I’m a big believer that music fits into seasonal moods, and Deep Feeler definitely strikes an autumnal vein. The sound of Canada geese always reminds me of fall (back when geese used to migrate – thanks, climate change), so the song “Wild Geese” puts me in a similar frame of mind. The slightly more upbeat tune begins that process of letting go – “Forgive yourself for what you did wrong if it got you through the night.” “Flowers” is a country ambler that has Greene battling against (illusory) sepia-toned memories while trying to improve the life she’s got now, at least in small ways – “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, spending my hard-earned money for/When the truth is I just can’t afford to miss you anymore.”

The job of recovery truly begins in the twangy “I’ve Got Work to Do.” Jarosz stops by again with some gorgeous harmonies as Greene effectively starts life over – “I wanna be a reckless woman, a damn hard working girl/Before I’m anybody’s wife or perfect daughter.” That process of self-realization reaches a peak in “Katie,” a spare track featuring only Greene and subtle fiddle from Christian Sedelmyer. The songwriter calls it a recollection of the first time she allowed the queer love in her life “not to be a bad thing,” and the quiet nature of the song allows Greene to find happiness in the moment without wishing – too hard, anyway – for something more: “I think I’m gonna like you around/For whatever time you’ve found for me.” Greene wraps up all of the conflicting emotions on Deep Feeler with the solo acoustic track “I Can Be Grateful.” The acceptance of a bygone relationship can still leave a sting – “I can be grateful and still mad…That I can’t be yours anymore.” Realizing that we’re all a messy bundle of our own contradictions is part of growing up. We’re lucky enough to hear Greene going through that process in real time.

Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “It Ain’t Dead Yet” – this twanger, featuring harmonies and upright bass from Hazel Royer (Greene produced most of Deep Feeler, and she put great care into surrounding herself with excellent musicians), has the singer beginning to throw dirt on that too-long lingering love – “It ain’t dead yet, but I think I found the way out.”

Deep Feeler was produced by Liv Greene and Matt Andrews, engineered and mixed by Andrews and mastered by Jon Neufeld. Songs written by Olivia Ann Greene. Musicians on the album include Greene (lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Hazel Royer (upright bass, harmony vocals), Elise Leavy (accordion, piano, harmony vocals), Dominic Billett (drums), Jack Schneider (electric guitar, high strung guitar), Matt Andrews (organ, high strung guitar), Sarah Jarosz (mandolin, harmony vocals), Christian Sedelmyer (fiddle), Mike Robinson (pedal steel), Jared Manzo (electric bass), Emily Mann (electric bass), Sean Szoch (drums, electric guitar) and Jordan Tice (acoustic guitar).