“Some artists write when they’re happy,” says Lisa Bouchelle. “Some write when they’re down and out. I write every single day, and that’s why I think this album encompasses so much: the joy and the pain, the hope and the doubt, the bitter and the sweet. That’s life.”
 

On her intoxicating new album, Vandals, Thieves & Lovers, Bouchelle grapples with the full spectrum of the human experience, balancing darkness and light in equal measure as she navigates her way through love, loss, loneliness, and liberation. Recorded with a host of special guests including Amanda Shires, Larry Campbell, Jake Clemons, and Waddy Wachtel, the collection takes a similarly wide-ranging sonic approach, drawing on folk, country, rock, blues, gospel, soul, and funk as it weaves together the disparate threads of American roots music into a captivating, cohesive whole. Add it all up and you’ve got a timeless work that’s as indebted to Laurel Canyon and Bakersfield as Memphis and Motown, a raw, revelatory exploration of survival  and  resilience  that  showcases  just  how  far  Bouchelle  has  come,  and,  just  as importantly, where she’s headed.
 

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Bouchelle found refuge in music at an early age. Her parents’ relationship was a tumultuous one—her mother struggled with alcoholism and her father worked three jobs just to make ends meet— and the only pause in the fighting seemed to come when Bouchelle sang.
 

“Even as a little kid, I realized that when I performed, my family suddenly got along,” she recalls. “That became a motivating factor I carry to this day, a desire to transcend whatever struggles or conflicts people are dealing with and bring them together through music.”
 

With Vandals, Thieves & Lovers, Bouchelle knew she wanted to embrace that collaborative spirit, inviting an all-star cast of artists to join her for the sessions including Nashville fiddler Amanda Shires (Jason Isbell, The Highwomen), celebrated guitarists Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan, The Band), Waddy Wachtel (Stevie Nicks, Linda Rondstadt) and Clay Cook (Zac Brown Band), E Street Band saxophonist Jake Clemons, pedal steel virtuoso Doyle Grisham (Jimmy Buffett), drummer Rich Scannella (Tonic), fiddle player Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth), and bassist Hal B. Selzer (Joan Jett). Despite the album’s star-studded lineup, however, the spotlight remains firmly fixed on Bouchelle throughout the collection, with arrangements centered around her evocative vocals and infectiously rhythmic guitar work.
 

That pairing of emotional intimacy and sonic adventurousness works wonders on Vandals, Thieves & Lovers, which opens with the stirring “A Light To Come Home To.” Bolstered by tasteful instrumental work from both Shires and Campbell, the song soars on the strength of Bouchelle’s soulful vocals as she muses on the relationships that ground us and give us strength. “Somehow we'll find a way / To get back out there every day,” she proclaims. “All we need is a light to come home to.” Like much of Bouchelle’s writing, the song is rooted in her lived experiences as a working-class artist, one who’s never had it easy but always manages to find the silver lining in every challenge. The driving “Game To Play” chases down dreams with tenacity and vigor, even when it seems impossible to go on, while the haunting, primarily a capella “Skeleton Krewe” honors the artistic alchemy that somehow transforms rust into gold, and the searing “Vandal” learns to let go of the lingering pain we carry inside, with Bouchelle lamenting, “You wrote on the walls of my soul / You vandal.”
 

“Vandals, thieves, and lovers all leave their mark on you, whether you like it or not,” she reflects. “Some of them hurt you, some of them steal from you, and some of them gift you with more than you could have ever imagined. In a lot of ways, that’s what these songs are all about: what life takes and what life gives.”
 

For Bouchelle, life’s gifts are everywhere if you’re willing to look for them. The dreamy “Make This World Stand Still” channels Roy Orbison and Patsy Cline as it tunes out everything but a lover’s gaze; the playful “Wild Again” (featuring Springsteen sideman Jake Clemons) finds joy in cutting loose and dancing barefoot; the exhilarating “Retro Sister” embraces the rewards of being your most authentic self; and the lilting “Buzzkill” shuts down anyone who might dare to ruin the vibe.
 

"A lot of times when I'm ready to record an album, I'll bring in a collection of songs I've recently written, and see what fits,” Bouchelle explains, “but with this album, I wrote everything to go together very intentionally. I gave myself permission to have fun with it, to face the hard times head on, but also to celebrate all the beauty and wonder and joy you encounter along the way.”
 

That’s life, indeed.