Stephanie Lambring Re-Releases 'Autonomy' On Thirty Tigers

Stephanie Lambring's Autonomy, originally released in October 2020 and garnered wide acclaim for the singer-songwriter's ability to confront life's uncomfortable moments and hard truths with searing, relatable honesty. Since the album's original release, Lambring created Almost Autonomous Records and signed a distribution deal with Thirty Tigers. The updated version of the album, released today, includes Lambring's cover of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion."

"'Losing My Religion' is a song that fits the essence of my album," Lambring says. "It's an expression for being at the end of one's rope. That was definitely my headspace when I left my publishing deal. It pushed me to look inward, regroup, and ultimately make music on my own terms."

"Many of the songs on Autonomy come from my own wrestling with evangelical Christianity," she continues. "Even though the cover itself isn't about religion, the title is perfect for a strong theme of questioning one's inherited faith."

Thirty Tigers founder David Macias originally heard Lambring's song "Daddy's Disappointment" after it was featured as one of Rolling Stone's Songs You Need to Know. Writer Jonathan Bernstein called the song, which sparked the entire writing process for the record, "one of the most irresistible roots-rock gems of the year" and noted her "John Prine-esque observation" on the album.

"I first heard about Stephanie from reading a Jonathan Bernstein piece, and it sounded like something I would love, but I wasn't prepared for how hard it would hit me. She paints in such fine detail, taking you back to youthful insecurities or the things we mess up as young adults so viscerally, that you feel the pain in your bones. She's one of my favorite songwriters in some time, and I am thrilled to get to work with her."

Released October 23, 2020, Autonomy embraces the heaviness that can sometimes exist in life, examining difficult topics through a lens of someone working to reconcile their feelings about it all. Lambring examines topics that sound familiar, like things you've thought about before: from childhood embarrassments that still pop up now and again to relationships that were bad choices from the beginning, from the constant desire to (still) please parents, to what in the world it feels like to try and understand evangelical Christianity in America.

Ann Powers named "Joy of Jesus" as her Best of October pick on NPR's All Songs Considered; while World Cafe wondered: "Have You Heard Stephanie Lambring's 'Autonomy'? You Should." "Joy of Jesus" landed at #28 on NPR's Best Songs of 2020 list and #18 on Rolling Stone Country's Best Country & Americana Songs of 2020, and the album made the list of the Tennessean's favorite Nashville-made albums of that year.

To post a comment, you must register and login.