Alt-rock firebrand INGER LORRE gets "More Real" on new single

Photo credit Yuko Ishii

“How long has it been between studio albums? Quite a long time,” says LA-based alt-rock legend Inger Lorre. Reflecting on her last release, Transcendental Meditation, released in 1999, she’s ready to make a statement. “It was really a matter of money… and having something to say.” “More Real,” her first studio output since 2014’s 7-inch single “Snowflake / Hate In My Heart” (as Inger Lorre and the Chiefs of Infinity), is that statement. “The lyrics are very straightforward. ‘I’ve been waiting far too long to sing this song.’ Well, I have, haven’t I?” she asks rhetorically. A step away from her raucous rock roots fronting infamous and uncontrollable band Nymphs from the ‘90s, Lorre takes a softer approach, full of viscerally raw introspection and vulnerability. A melancholic folk song swaying ever-so-closely on the borderline of Americana, “More Real” captures the once infernally-charged firebrand on a meditative and contemplative path of self-realization. Examining the horrors and deterioration of addiction, it cuts very close to the bone. "The song is about everything I knew in my heart unfurling right before me,” she explains. “It's about the wisdom earned through suffering. I looked into becoming a monk, but I was one year too old to be accepted. I wanted to reject a lot of Western Culture. I wanted to reject a society that is vapid and superficial. There's an innate strength to being female – don't burn through your life without embracing every stage: maiden, mother, maga, crone.”

Inger Lorre

A mere taste for what’s in store, “More Real” was co-produced by Paul Roessler (TSOL, The Screamers, Nina Hagan). “I have wanted to work with Paul for years just because of all the positive hearsay,” she says admirably. “I would see him and we would always talk about possibly doing music together. He is some sort of magical, musical genius and I am so grateful that in this lifetime, I got to do a record with Paul Roessler at the helm.”

Working with Nashville multi-instrumentalist Buddy Woodward, she created gorgeous oceans of sound with esoteric string instruments alongside Angelique Congleton on bass, Eric Contreras on drums, Matt Lee on electric guitar, Jordan Shapiro on pedal steel guitar and Roessler on keyboards.

With more music on the way, Lorre is excited for what’s upcoming, especially after finding a kindred spirit with infamous ‘80s icon Josie Cotton on whose label Kitten Robot she is now signed. “I chose to be on the label because it’s a great label,” she beams. “It’s owned and run by a woman, Josie, who dealt with the same and different problems in the old-school major label music game, so I felt that Josie understood what I had gone through. She understood the PTSD that I went through dealing with large music conglomerates. I still have PTSD… just ask my band members.”

“More Real” is now available via Kitten Robot Records on DSPs including Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Pandora, and Amazon.