Video: Lydia Loveless – “Sex and Money”

Directed by Katie Harriman. From Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again, out September 22 on Bloodshot.

Sex and money. Cheeky move for the newly revived Bloodshot Records to release a single with that title, considering those are the two things that caused the original owners to shut the label down in 2021 after accusations of sexual predation and unpaid royalties. Bloodshot was purchased — including its catalog — by investment group Exceleration Music, who promised to pay the artists their outstanding royalties.

Lydia Loveless is a witty songwriter, but maybe that’s not what she had in mind after all. She says, “This one was written at an Airbnb in Austin on some late tour night where there’s a bottle and a guitar and everyone’s giggly. I’ve tried really hard to not write songs about ‘the lifestyle of a road dog,’ but this one’s a little more self-deprecation than anything. I’m a horrible hopeless romantic and I will literally just sit in the back of the van and daydream that my crush shows up with flowers and sweeps me off my feet at a random show. My poor long-suffering band, hahaha.”

So maybe it’s just a coincidence. Sex and money. Sometimes a pipe is just a pipe. Regardless, it’s good to see Bloodshot back in action…even if the office on Irving Park is now abandoned.