LP, “Love Lines.”

Some artists have turned the art of the breakup into literal art, but the resulting songs are often about perceived slights. Singer-songwriter LP had been engaged to their partner of six years up until 2021 album Churches and has seemingly bounced around a bit between several romantic partners since then. On Love Lines, their seventh album, LP isn’t out to play the blame game. Instead, they’re in personal growth mode, lamenting mistakes they’ve made and sharing lessons learned.

The artist, born Laura Pergolizzi, deconstructs their takeaways alongside their signature rich compositions and a pen that cuts like a knife on lyricism that is both relatable and very specific.

The 12 songs here, written in sessions between Grand Cayman in the Caribbean and Palm Springs, and produced by Ashton Irwin (5 Seconds of Summer), Andrew Berkeley Martin and Matthew Pauling, are wrapped in different sorts of lush arrangements.

“Long Goodbye” starts as a Beatles-esque sepia-toned tune but turns symphonic with the entrance of a swooning string section and possibly a timpani moments later. LP sounds by turns operatic and Pat-Benatar-esque on their vocal delivery.

“Hey baby/ I worry about you all the time/ I know we didn’t hold the light/ But you are aways on my mind,” LP sings before some slide guitar playing enters the mix as well. The song takes several more twists and turns before ending in a piano outro that seems to nod to George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”

LP returns to the idea of regret and roads not taken on album closer “Hold the Light,” the most stripped-down song on the record.

“It’s a tired drumbeat in my chest/ I left all the ones I loved the best,” they sing over acoustic guitar strumming, pedal steel guitar strains and a drumbeat that eventually kicks in. LP acknowledges missteps and digs into their own insecurities, like imposter syndrome. LP admits they didn’t want to give up on a romance, even when it was troubled: “I wanted to know ya/ I wanted to fight/ Don’t have to be over.”

Both album opener “Golden” and “Hola” have strains of Latin guitar playing. The former, which LP has described as being about the lessons of lost love, weaves these lessons into a pop banger. Love Lines doesn’t feature any of LP’s signature whistling, but the common throughline of their fluttering high-pitched vocals are ever-present on the later choruses.

“There’s something about when you know it/ Don’t let it be gone in a moment,” LP sings.

“Hola,” meanwhile, comes primed for salsa dancing, with a rock guitar line inspired by Santana and even some brass accents. Here, LP is on the lookout for a new infatuation.

Elsewhere, LP accepts life as it comes on “Love Lines,” offers their love to another on “Dayglow,” burns with passion on “Wild” and misses the ones that got away on twinkling guitar ballad “Big Time.” The title track and “Big Time” begin as simple guitar ballads, but the former builds to something much grander.

“I’ll tell you what I know:/ Everything has got a sacrifice/ Even winning is compromise/ If you wanna live a happy life/ Don’t let the good ones go,” they sing.

The sentimental “One Like You” recalls LP’s earlier hits like the similarly named “Lost On You.” It’s followed by the generically titled “Love Song,” which stands apart from much of their songbook as an ’80s-sounding pop number that in pace and vocal delivery recalls Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing.” Here LP acknowledges it’s better to be in love than dealing with the aftermath.

“My mortal enemies/ Are still my fantasies/ They get the best of me and turn me from a friend to fiend/ It’s such a tragedy/ Because I wanna be/ Back in that time when every melody was you and me,” they sing.

Only twice, on the aggressive “Burn It Down” and orchestral “Blow,” does LP throw thunderbolts in someone else’s direction. The former is highlighted by Eastern-sounding flute bleats as LP throws shade at an ex-lover who won’t let go—finding ways to keep them around—even when it’s best that they both go their separate ways. The latter, a slowly simmering waltz-like ballad, makes an accusation that a lover is absent when LP needs them most.

“Oh, let the cold winds blow/ You left me buried in the snow/ You always dance with me then cancel me/ I’m so alone/ Shadow box my soul,” LP laments.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.