Gaslighter

Source: Refinery29.com

Gaslighter is here!  The highly-anticipated studio album from The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks) was released on Friday.  This is the band's first album in 14 years and I have to say, it was worth the wait.  It did not take long for the album to reach number 1 on the US iTunes album sales chart. 

The Dixie Chicks were the original targets of "cancel culture" when a public criticism of then President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq led to a flood of anti-Dixie Chicks sentiments, boycotts and even death threats from intellectually challenged conservatives.  But the trio didn't drown in the backlash, choosing to navigate the turbulent waters by doing what they do best - making powerful music.  Their subsequent album, Taking The Long Way and it's emotionally-charged centerpiece, Not Ready To Make Nice, won five Grammy awards.  After the dust settled, their private lives took the three women in different directions which included a focus on raising children, a few side projects and Maines' solo album titled Mother, released in 2013.

The bold new album has been praised by critics for its fusion of raw emotion, brutal honesty and pop-country tone as well as its outstanding production.  Ellen Johnson from Paste magazine describes Gaslighter as the best country album of 2020 and maintains that it "forces empathy onto the listener while reminding us we don’t have to be superheroes to make a difference." 

While the album leans more towards pop and traditional country sounds have been given a 21st century makeover, some things haven't changed in 14 years:  their incredible harmonies and Natalie Maines' commanding vocals.  In fact, much of the album's lyrics are centred on her bitter divorce from her husband, Adrian Pasdar (you might remember him as Nathan Petrelli on the series Heroes) and she doesn't hold back in sharing the painful details of her private life.   According to Rolling Stone, Maines "takes a cue from Beyoncé — with whom the group famously shared the stage at the 2016 CMAs, to the outrage of the Nashville old guard — and melds together vengeance with vulnerability, airing out her domestic laundry with swagger and more than a hint of Lemonade’s self-righteousness." 

The album is perfection from the opening title track, Gaslighter, to it's moving closing number, Set Me Free but the standout tracks for me are:

Gaslighter

The term “gaslighter" is from a 1938 British play, Gas Light, in which a man uses psychological manipulation to convince his wife that she's going crazy.  The term has since become politicized and includes the process of using denial and misinformation to destabilize someone's beliefs. The harmonized opening lyrics set the tone for the rest of this rousing track and make it clear that they are not pulling any punches: "Gaslighter, denier / Doin' anything to get your ass farther / Gaslighter, big timer / Repeating all of the mistakes of your father".  This was the first single to be released from the album and the accompanying video is a montage of the trio in military attire merged with vintage American images.

Sleep At Night

In the second track, The Chicks put a cheater (presumably her ex-husband) in their place by calling them out: "How do you sleep at night? / How do you tell those lies? / Lookin' me in the eye / Livin' a double life."  The video features the women walking through a desert town as they tell their story through movement, offering each other support through the hurt.

Texas Man

This song has been described as a follow-up to one of the band's biggest hits, Cowboy Take Me Home.  It's is an upbeat track featuring rock percussion and their signature harmonies that will have your toes tapping and your fingers snapping.

March March

The striking anthem and protest song that explores global warming, mass shootings and gun culture, an underfunded education system and women's rights set to fiddles and drum machines.  The video, which opens with a quote: “If your voice held no power, they wouldn’t try to silence you", is a montage of protests throughout US history but focuses on this year's Black Lives Matter marches and rallies.

Julianna Calm Down

This is probably my favourite track on the album.  It's a message to women who find themselves in abusive relationships to stand up for themselves and hold on to their dignity, offering the best advice: "Put on your best shoes and strut the fuck around like you've got nothing to lose."  The beat gradually builds with each verse until the song reaches its snappy conclusion: "I guess this is the time to remind you / Sometimes what's going through your head / Is just a temporary…"