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Lord Huron, 'Love Me Like You Used To'

For Lord Huron, what once was old is new again. The Los Angeles four piece has always had a foot in classic country. But with the release of its fourth LP, Long Lost, it dives in headfirst. The mid-tempo track "Love Me Like You Used To" and its anthemic guitar motif, in the cadence of riding horseback, could easily slide into a crate of 45s alongside mid-century gems from Buck Owens or Johnny Cash — who, incidentally, recorded a song of the same name in the 1980s. Its lyrics, too, seem old as the hills. "I have traveled many miles / I don't wanna walk no more / Every road and every highway led me right back to your door," frontman Ben Schneider sings. "Love Me Like You Used To" is a story of heartache that somehow seems more gut-wrenching in this archival style. Rich with warbly background vocals and strings, it cuts deeper than it might as a stripped-down, contempo acoustic ballad. The facade of the past adds weight, steeping old sounds in the sorrow of all the hearts that broke before our own.

Copyright 2021 WAMU 88.5

Eliza Tebo Berkon