For better or worse (at least commercially), Ashley Monroe has never been beholden to one genre. Over five albums, she gamely flitted between classic and commercial country before moving on to string-laced retro balladry and polished indie pop. The results have been mostly excellent and often exceptional—as with 2015’s The Blade and its even better 2018 follow-up, Sparrow. That willingness to follow her eclectic personal tastes has made her one of modern Nashville’s most unpredictable, complex and satisfying talents.
Four years removed from her battle with a rare blood cancer, Monroe brings it all together on the new Tennessee Lightning. The sprawling, 17-song statement of self covers all the previous stylistic bases and adds a few more flavors to the pot, including the bouncy, Beach Boys-inspired “Hot Rod Pipe Dream” and the Depression-era gospel hymn “Jesus Hold My Hand.” There’s also this austere version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye,” carried solely by Monroe’s achingly understated vocals.
“I’ve known and loved this song for a long time,” says Monroe of Cohen’s 1967 classic. “But a while back, I was going through a season in my life where it was literally the only thing I could listen to. I finally picked up a guitar at (producer) Gena Johnson’s studio and started singing it—and she captured it in one take. Leonard Cohen‘s birthday was yesterday, and this song feels even more timely now than it ever has. In the midst of all the heaviness, sometimes there’s a beautiful light in letting ourselves feel it.”
We’re proud to premiere Ashley Monroe’s “That’s No Way To Say Goodbye.” (Monroe dropped the “Hey” from the title of Cohen’s original.)
—Hobart Rowland
See Ashley Monroe live.
