Lydia Loveless shoots into the running for my favorite albums of 2023

I love alt-country rocker Lydia Loveless's songs so much. They really don't release anything but greatness and their new long player, Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again, could easily be my favorite album of the year on any given day. 

Right now, it's in the running for my album of the year alongside: 

• Lil Yachty's Let's Start Here (a cross of Pink Floyd and the best Funkadelic that never releases its sonic grip. The Atlanta mumble rapper graduates from his old style into a super slick batch of jazzy, dancey, and weird pop greatness)
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's Weathervanes (the former Drive-by Trucker's magnum opus. He has had great albums before but this is his most perfect alt-country display), and
• yes, wait for it, Taylor Swift's Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (I defy anyone to say this isn't an amazing collection of 22 (!!!) songs. They are all great, and many are stunningly great).

Back to Loveless. Who the heck is they, you ask? From Columbus, Ohio, their music combines pop, outlaw country, honky tonk, and punk. Loveless identifies as gender fluid, grew up on a farm, and was home-schooled. They were an outcast and dare I say rebel from an early age, living in a small Ohio town that was heavily regious and conformist, but life got better at 14 when their family moved to Columbus.

To me, Loveless's last four albums, ever since 2014, have each been immaculate. They have some releases before then that I simply haven't dug into yet, but I probably should. And I've got to get to some of her live shows, which critics have called "energetic and engaging."