That’s right, honey

It’s apparent from Tears, Lies, and Alibis, Shelby Lynne’s newest release, that she’s learned a whole lot from the immersion in the work of the late Dusty Springfield, which she did for her last album of covers and tributes to the queen of blue-eyed soul. Lynne’s still got country in her blood, and the last two songs on the release, “Old #7” and “Old Dog,” are pure-D country drinking songs.

But most of the rest of the songs are pop-inflected, bluesy tunes of the sort that fall into the Americana category, both in style and subject matter. The best of these is “Something to Be Said (About Airstreams),” a paean to Airstream trailers, those great silver sausages on wheels that allow us to go where we want and take our lives along. But my personal favorite—and new anthem—is “Family Tree,” a less-than-polite fuck-you-very-much to relatives with way too many opinions about how we live our own lives. That’s right, honey; with its fevered guitar work and final lines (“This apple’s fell off the family tree”), Lynne declares independence for all of us.