Liz Cooper
“Better Than Ever”
Sleepyhead Records
This one has been in heavy rotation all week.
Liz Cooper released her third album, “New Day,” back in February, but it took a while for this gem of a tune to find me. “Better Than Ever” is the standout track, a delicious earworm that feels like a straight-forward pop tune but harbors a darker vibe inside the lyrics (anxiety, too much social media, too little connection, etc.).
In fact, the lyrics were the first thing that caught my ear:
“Hesitant romantic
Desire by design
I get jealous
I can’t help it
My anxiety’s divine”
When I’m listening to this song for the eighth time today (that’s how addicted I’ve been to it lately), I’m drawn back to the ‘90s when a slick, futuristic take on the mod scene came rolling back into our hearts and our record stores, with acts like Saint Etienne and the Cardinals dominating the radio.
It’s clean. It’s sexy. It’s retrofuturistic in all the right ways, like it could be on the soundtrack for a low-budget James Bond movie.
Liz Cooper is currently touring behind her latest album (dates here). For anyone interested in seeing her in Detroit, she’ll land at the Lager House on May 9.
