There’s something refreshingly freeing from a musician who knows exactly who they are, who has always gone their own way. There’s a sense of being true to oneself that cannot be taken away.

Robin Lane knows this sentiment all too well. Decades of being exactly who she intended to be have led to a strong base that continues to support her, deservedly so. With over ten releases since 1980s Robin Lane & The Chartbusters (which, by the way is well-worth a revisit), Lane is still going strong with her latest five-track EP Dirt Road to Heaven.

Shifting from the new-wave sound of yesteryear, Dirt Road to Heaven continues down the path we began to see with 2003’s Piece of Mind and 2020’s Instant Album. Identifiably Lane, the new EP settles into a rocking chair on a front porch and watches the world move across an expansive landscape. The opening title-track speaks immediately to Robin Lane’s style, blazing her own path and reflecting on the ever-moving sense of her music. The banjo and bass drum backing of “Woman Like That” reaches deep into dusty sense of Americana.  “Hurricane Watch” shifts to an alternative sound which carries a longing sense of wonder. The fantastic real humor of “Last Cute Minute” clearly demonstrates how, after all these years, music can still be fun; if not funny. Throughout Dirt Road to Heaven, Lane remains rooted to honesty and an ever-present sense of self.

Robin Lane’s decades of experience and music shows no signs of stopping and I couldn’t be happier about that. Dirt Road to Heaven continues to impress and offers up a refreshing presence of non-complacency. She knows exactly who she is and isn’t afraid to move in the space she’s created. The result is an EP that will slow life down and implore you to listen to the words while feeling the world she’s crafted.