There is something rather appealing about an album that doesn’t seem overly concerned with behaving itself, and Love & Death, the latest record from The Free States, is certainly not short on musical curiosity. Shaun Lyons has created a record that moves comfortably between rock, soul, alternative songwriting and more experimental territory, occasionally throwing an unusual rhythm or unexpected arrangement into the mix just to see what happens, and remarkably, it all makes considerably more sense than it probably ought to.
Love & Death is the third Free States album in three years. If anything, this feels like a songwriter becoming increasingly comfortable with following an idea wherever it happens to lead, rather than worrying too much about whether it arrives where he originally had in mind.











