When set out to make their 1988 debut studio album, they enlisted to engineer 鈥淪urfer Rosa,鈥� the seminal alternative record which includes the enduring hit, 鈥淲here Is My Mind?鈥� That experience was mutually beneficial to both parties 鈥� and was the beginning of a decades-long friendship between the prickly Albini and Kim Deal, the at the time.
Nearly 35 years later 鈥� and just before the acclaimed audio engineer died in May at age 61 鈥� Deal turned to Albini once again for what would be their final collaboration, this time for another debut. Eight of the 11 tracks on Deal鈥檚 first solo studio album, 鈥淣obody Loves You More," were produced by both Albini and Deal 鈥� the ideal partnership of his experimentation and her musical skill.
Deal鈥檚 music has always been a reflection of both the rugged exterior needed to be a woman at the forefront of the '90s alternative rock scene as well as a tenderness that subverts the indifference often characterizing that same scene.
Those features, ostensibly at odds with one another, culminate in 鈥淣obody Loves You More,鈥� thanks to her poignant lyricism and the unique instrumentation woven throughout the record. At its heart, this is still a rock album 鈥� one that Deal is uniquely suited to make.
The album鈥檚 final track, 鈥淎 Good Time Pushed,鈥� musically and lyrically captures the fine line between doom and joy. 鈥淲e鈥檙e having a good time,鈥� she repeats, in what is perhaps an effort to convince herself that she is.
Although the continuity is there between this album and the music of the Pixies and Deal's band , aspects of it are unequivocally distinct.
The resounding brass instruments on the title track and 鈥淐oast,鈥� along with the orchestra featured on 鈥淪ummerland," are a departure from the traditional rock instrumentation that many listeners have come to associate with the 63-year-old.
As the album title suggests, much of the songs on 鈥淣obody Loves You More鈥� are also lyrically earnest and romantic. 鈥淎re you mine?/Are you my baby?/I have no mind/For nothin but love,鈥� Deal croons on the doo-wop-inspired 鈥淎re You Mine?鈥�
There are anomalies 鈥� like in the drum- and synth-heavy 鈥淏ig Ben Beat,鈥� which is evocative of rocker electronic pivot in 2024's 鈥淭he Collective." That one was produced only by Deal, not Albini.
As a whole, 鈥淣obody Loves You More鈥� is varied 鈥� and as distinctly American as the myriad locations which inspired it, from the Massachusetts island of Nantucket (the breezy sounds of 鈥淐oast鈥�) to the Florida Keys ("Summerland") to Deal's hometown of Dayton, Ohio.
Fans of the Pixies and the Breeders will find a lot to enjoy here 鈥� it is both familiar and different.
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Krysta Fauria, The Associated Press
