It’s hard to imagine another country album as effortlessly cool as Caitlin Cannon’s Love Addict. Cannon invokes muses from pop, ’60s country, outlaw country and her own endless inventiveness for a collection of songs that examines what it truly means to love — or at least fuck — somebody. The title track kicks off with a saucy lust letter to “the best drug in Tennessee,” delivered with Cannon’s silky voice and stiletto humor. “I Wouldn’t Say I Love You” similarly dances around commitment, but in Cannon’s expert hands the song is less cheeky and more sincere: Why doom something good with the weight of expectations?
Cannon doesn’t spare other forms of love. “Jesus Is My Lover” and “Dr. Dealer” are two of the more uproarious tracks on Love Addict, distilling the frenetic energy of manic episodes and medication dependence into a dark smirk. However, it’s when Cannon gets serious that her songs are most lethal. The gentle waltz of “My Own Company” contemplates how to be in relationship with oneself — you know, the one we all tend to ignore.
It’s not so funny when Cannon closes the album with “Waiting,” a true study in devotion and one based on the life of her brother, who has been incarcerated for decades. Throughout Love Addict, Cannon has asked us to weigh our options and give real consideration to whom we give our energy to, but “Waiting” throws that all out the window — how could we not lean on each other when everything else is stripped away?
