On "Sorry is Gone", the title track and lead single from Ohio country-rocker Jessica Lea Mayfield's fourth album, was a breezy, charming, and witty kiss-off to her ex-husband. A few months later, she revealed to that the dissolution of her marriage was far more sinister than that effortless break-up song suggested:
"Last week, I had a surgery for a broken shoulder related to a domestic violence incident. I had been suffering with this injury (and others that still require surgeries) for 3 years. This is not uncommon. I want to tell anyone who is protecting their abuser that it’s not worth it. No one who hurts you loves you. No one should EVER hurt you. Don’t believe them when they say they are sorry. It will happen again. Leave after the first time. It only gets worse. My silence helps no one except the person who did this to me.”
Mayfield was more focused on her own recovery than pursuing justice or reparations on the album; her recent single "Offa My Hands" continues in this vein. The song is simple and jangly, but the chorus' repetition - and the unusually extensive purging that she requires - hint ominously at the trauma she has survived: ''Gotta wash you offa my hands/ Gotta wash you off/ Every single DNA strand/ Gotta wash you offa my hands.' The song starts with suicidal ideation, and thankfully veers into a life-affirming and therapeutic mantra. Mayfield can certainly convey a depth of feeling and experience with a light lyrical and sonic touch.
