Album Review: Martha Wainwright, Love Will Be Reborn

Some good news: the latest effort from the irrepressible Martha Wainwright is brimful of wonderful tunes and a renewed sense of optimism. The title track boasts a memorable melody over a solid guitar rhythm, with a lyric that looks forward to better times ahead for the recent divorcee. ‘Middle Of The Lake’ is vintage Martha, with her anguished voice soaring above chiming guitars.

‘Getting Older’ is a plea for companionship and love as the years roll by, and ‘Hole In My Heart’ also addresses the joys of new love. In some ways, pandemic restrictions have freed artists like Wainwright by making them look within, not just for musical inspiration, but for the quirks and twists that stop work becoming too formulaic.  There’s certainly nothing predictable about Love Will Be Reborn, except that it achieves the usual Wainwright standard of quality and honesty.

8/10