Life sneaks up on you, and it has a tendency to hurt like hell. Yet amid the pain there are moments of unrelenting beauty, where you connect with another person and everything seems just right. Charlotte Cornfield’s sixth collection, Hurts Like Hell merges the pain with grace and detail while finding the beauty that comes from moments when inhibitions are dropped, and for a second or an hour, the world can actually be a beautiful place.
Part of what has changed for Cornfield is due to the birth of her daughter in 2023. Discovering that her life was no longer her own, she had to reassess her methods of working. Instead of simply taking finished songs to a producer, she workshopped songs with the input of producer Philip Weinrobe. Songs that had largely been written in the first person gave way to characters and situations imagined rather than confessional pieces. Recording mostlhy live in a room with El Kemper of Palehound on guitar and Lake Street Dive’s Bridget Kearney on bass, the assembled band, along with singers like Buck Meek and Feist, created performances bringing out equal parts music and magic.
The performance of Cornfield and Feist on ‘Living with It’ is a case in point. Revealing the details ending a relationship is never easy, yet amidst the piano of Núria Graham the heartbreak is evident. “Maybe I’m just better at living with it than you are/ But I’m the one crying in my car/ Telling you to go when I want you to stay.” The emotions may be just below the surface, yet hiding the pain is not.
The steel guitar Adam Brisbin sways on ‘Hurts Like Hell’, even as Meek and Cornfield vocals reveal the pain at the heart of a relationship. “You could get out of your shell for a minute/ You could even rebel for a minute/ So hard to tell when you’re in it/ ‘Cause it hurts like hell when you’re in it.” As Cornfield explains about these two characters “… characters have clearly experienced alot of heartbreak, and are pushing themselves to move past it, and connect with one another. It’s a shy people love story.”
Populating these songs with characters, whether real or imagined, constantly ring true. Some of this comes from being in more social settings with other parents and children. Characters like the broken-down frontman of ‘Lost Leader’ or the fictional band on ‘Squiddd’ playing only one gig before breaking up may be figments of the imagination, yet those moments play to very real emotions.
The final song on Hurts Like Hell, ‘Bloody and Alive’ details Cornfield’s experiences of childbirth. Tying into the title and revealing an unquestioned truth of the album, from the moments of ultimate pain come the joy and love that make that pain something one can appreciate going through.
Charlotte Cornfield’s Hurts Like Hell is a remarkable achievement because despite often creating characters and situations, the truths revealed are undeniable. Pain defines the pleasure that follows, and finding the joy is always worth the effort.