Tin Star, the latest album from acclaimed singer-songwriter Lindi Ortega, will be released October 8 by Last Gang Records. The new record follows Lindi’s 2011 Juno Award-nominated debut album Little Red Boots, and her 2012 sophomore album Cigarettes & Truckstops. Billboard called Cigarettes and Truckstops “heartfelt and mood-inducing, a uniquely bluesy twist on pre-outlaw country” while The New York Times praised Ortega for having “untamed instincts, but classic bones.” Fans can catch Ortega on stage in Ottawa November 28-29 in the intimate NAC Fourth Stage cabaret venue. Tin Star features her alt-country sound and incredible and unique voice that she has become so well known for.
Produced by Grammy-nominated Dave Cobb (Secret Sisters, Shooter Jennings), Tin Star demonstrates Ortega’s unique voice and songwriting talent and is largely inspired by Ortega’s adopted home of Nashville, Tennessee. Born and bred in Toronto, Ortega made the move to Music City to be closer to the musicians who inspired her. “It’s always my goal to raise the bar with each record I put out,” she explains. “I have witnessed so much talent living in Nashville that has inspired me to push myself even further. I like to work with different musicians and producers to change the feel of every release. I don’t want to risk making the same record over and over. Working with a new group brings a new spirit and new ideas to the music.”
Several songs on the album touch on the classics of country music. Loneliness, unrequited love, crumbling relationships and primal desire pepper Tin Star and give Ortega a chance to let her contemporary twist on traditional country shine through. Hard As This, one of the standout tracks from the album, speaks to difficult relationships, how they often seem to be more trouble than they’re worth, and the feeling of giving all you have and it still not being enough. While I Want You takes the dark undertones that Ortega’s music is known for and explores the dark side of desire and the need to be bad to get what you want.
The past few years have found Ortega nearly constantly on the road supporting Little Red Boots and Cigarettes & Truckstops. She has toured with the likes of Dierks Bentley, Brandon Flowers of The Killers, K.D. Lang, Social Distortion and James Vincent McMorrow. Of her live performance The Chicago Sun Times notes “[her] ebullient personality and powerful voice make for a striking presence,” while Country Weekly goes on to say, “it’s her penetrating and tremulous voice you’ll remember the most.”