A Simple Trick to Happiness

A Simple Trick to Happiness is a 2020 studio album by American singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb, released on February 28, 2020. The album is Loeb's most personal and reflects her interest in simple and direct songwriting paired with inspiration from her children and personal life.[3] Loeb was inspired to write positive, uplifting music due to the complexity of modern life and after having written several albums of children's music.[4] The album was preceded by a music video for "Skeleton" in December 2019.[5]

A Simple Trick to Happiness
Studio album by
Lisa Loeb
ReleasedFebruary 28, 2020 (2020-02-28)
Recorded2019[1]
Studio
  • Audio Eagle Studio
  • Buddhaland
  • Deathstar Studio
GenrePop[2]
Length34:29
LabelFurious Rose
Producer
Lisa Loeb chronology
Lullaby Girl
(2017)		 A Simple Trick to Happiness
(2020)

Produced by Loeb and Rich Jacques, A Simple Trick To Happiness is a snapshot that examines life as a mother, wife, artist, and businesswoman seeking to find that rare perfect balance between personal fulfillment and purpose. The album features 11 original songs, co-written with Jacques, Scott Effman, Rosi Golan, Eric Lumiere, and others. The first track "Doesn't It Feel Good" features Michelle Branch on backing vocals.

Promotion

In October 2019, Loeb preceded the album's release with the premiere of her single "Sing Out" on the largest LGBTQ news site Queerty, in honor of National Coming Out Day. In December 2019, she premiered the music video for "Skeleton," the first official single from the album. In February 2020, she did a wide-ranging interview with entertainment and pop culture journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Yahoo Music Lyndsey Parker, speaking at-length about the inspiration for the album. Loeb also performed an intimate live concert and signed copies of her albums for fans during a special in-store event at Amoeba Records in Hollywood.

She has subsequently released music videos for many of the tracks on the album, including "This Is My Life," "Another Day," "Sing Out," "For The Birch," "Shine," and "The Upside."

In March 2020, Loeb launched #StayAtHomeTogether, a series of live virtual concerts during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. She also performed a special virtual show for hospital frontline workers through the organization Musicians On Call.

In April 2020, Loeb partnered with Crayola for a virtual nursery rhyme "Color & Sing Along," taking place three days a week for a month.

Critical reception

The album was met by stellar reviews and praise from critics and fans. The week of the release, Loeb became the #1 trending news story on Yahoo. The editorial staff of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, with reviewer Mark Deming calling it, "one of the best and most satisfying albums Lisa Loeb has made to date".[6]

Track listing
  1. "Doesn't It Feel Good" (Rosi Golan, Rich Jacques, Lisa Loeb) – 3:38
  2. "Skeleton" (Scott Effman, Jacques, Loeb) – 3:08
  3. "Another Day" (Yoshi Breen, Jacques, Loeb) – 3:28
  4. "This Is My Life" (Jacques, Loeb, Tom Rhodes) – 3:02
  5. "For the Birch" (Loeb, Anna Schulze, Maia Sharp) – 3:24
  6. "Most of All" (Loeb, Kevin Scott Rhoads) – 3:26
  7. "Shine" (Effman, Jacques, Loeb) – 3:14
  8. "Sing Out" (Loeb, Eric Lumiere) – 3:24
  9. "I Wanna Go First" (Daniel Ahearn, Jacques, Loeb) – 2:41
  10. "The Upside" (Kyler England, Jacques, Loeb) – 3:16
  11. "Wonder" (Loeb, Kevin Scott Rhoads) – 1:48

Personnel
  • Lisa Loeb – art direction, banjo, guitar, production, vocals

Additional musicians

  • Michelle Branch – backing vocals
  • Yoshi Breen – piano
  • Scott Effman – guitar, ukulele, backing vocals
  • Kyler England – backing vocals
  • Vanessa Freebairn-Smith – cello
  • Rich Jacques – bass guitar, drum programming, engineering, guitar, Mellotron, organ, piano, production, programming, synthesizer, ukulele, backing vocals
  • Bill Lefler – snare drums, percussion
  • Adam Levy – guitar
  • Kevin Scott Rhoads – engineering, piano
  • Anna Schulze – backing vocals
  • Kazumi Shimokawa – bass guitar, keyboards, Mellotron, piano, ukulele
  • Blair Sinta – drums, engineering

Technical personnel

  • Hans Dekline – mastering
  • Craig Frank – engineering
  • Richard Furch – mixing
  • Juan Patino – cover photo
  • Marc Whitmore – engineering
  • Janet Wolsborn – art direction
  • Brian Yaskulka – mixing
gollark: No idea. The original project was called "fractalart", so I kept the name. It generates them using a process which sounds slightly fractal, at least.
gollark: I can tweak a bunch of parameters too.
gollark: I fixed my Rust port of a Haskell program for these. It's very fast.
gollark: GAZE upon it.
gollark: Procedurally generated allegedly-fractals.

See also

References
  1. Reddish, David (October 11, 2019). "Listen to Grammy Winner Lisa Loeb's New Pride Anthem 'Sing Out'". =Queerty. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  2. "New Lisa Loeb Release". Sputnik Music. January 10, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  3. Christensen, Thor (February 24, 2020). "With a New Album out Feb. 28, Lisa Loeb Just Wants to Live in the Moment". Dallas News. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  4. Whitmore, Laura B. (February 27, 2020). "Looking for Happiness? Listening to Lisa Loeb's New Album May Be the Simple Trick You Need". Parade. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  5. Benitez-Eves, Tina (December 15, 2019). "Lisa Loeb Lets 'Skeleton' Out of Upcoming New Album". American Songwriter. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  6. Deming, Mark. "Simple Trick to Happiness – Lisa Loeb". AllMusic. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
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