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Aug 31, 2023 By Caleb Campbell

Nashville-based singer/songwriter Lindsay Lou has been steadily building her place in the Americana world, playing with her bluegrass outfit, Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys, and the Michigan folk supergroup Sweet Water Warblers. In this time, she’s toyed with the many different iterations of roots music, ranging from bluegrass, soul, gospel, blues, and Appalachian folk. Yet, despite that wide-ranging stylistic vision, the elements that most define her music remain deeply personal; her lustrous vocals and resonant storytelling are the most prominent throughlines to her work.

That confessional and spiritual element remains on her forthcoming record, Queen of Time, out September 29th on Kill Rock Stars’ new Nashville imprint. The record was reportedly inspired by a hallucinogenic ritual she undertook in the aftermath of the loss of her grandmother, the end of her marriage, and the upheaval of Covid. As she describes, “I saw a literal manifestation of the sacred feminine, and had this profound sense that I was meant to embody it.”

Lou has already shared a series of singles from the record this year, all of which have been originals, but today she is back with a new cover of Billy Swan’s “I Can Help,” premiering with Under the Radar.

Lou’s version of “I Can Help” strips back much of the guitar soloing and freewheeling energy of the 1974 original and instead opts for a much more breezy and tender rendition, carrying the track with gentle, swinging rhythms and easygoing guitar strums. Though she colors the track’s latter half with some guitar soloing of her own, she retains a warm, effortless air, matching the friendly lyrics with her singular pastoral charms. As she explains, that empathetic undercurrent is essential to the song, and is exactly why she chose to cover it.

“My Grandma Nancy put music into two categories: bubble gum, or Bob Dylan,” Lou explains. “She’d declare that the latter actually has something to say and uses music to say it. I’m no Dylan. Not by a long stretch. I didn’t even write this song. But, I chose it for this record because, as you may have noticed, I have a few things to say. I’m dispelling lies, as much for my own benefit as for whoever is listening. This song directs its gaze at the ‘self-made person’ lie. A friend introduced me to Billy Swan’s rendition during a time when friendship was literally getting me through to the next day. Grief is real. Grief is love with nowhere to go. The only way out is through and we get through it together or not at all.”

Check out the song and video below, out everywhere now. Queen of Time is out September 29th via Kill Rock Stars Nashville.