Acclaimed singer-songwriter and producer Lawrence Rothman today unveils a new song, “A Word’s A Weapon“, via KRO Records. A music video for the single, directed by Joanna Carter, also debuts today – watch HERE. The track is the latest release from Rothman’s upcoming album, Here Lies Love / Sawdust to Stardust, out September 25th via KRO Records, available for presave/preorder HERE.
“A Word’s A Weapon” explores collective human pain, illustrating how fear, division and unresolved wounds become cycles of destruction. Rothman shares: “Before we build the weapon, we imagine it. Before we draw the border, we name who belongs on either side. Words are invisible, but they have always carried the weight of stones, bullets, and fire. They can turn fear into hatred and hatred into history. But language is also where forgiveness begins. The same mouth that condemns can confess; the same voice that divides can call someone home. Maybe the fate of the world has always rested, in part, on what we choose to say to one another.”
The new track follows previously shared single, “The Meaning”, the first release off Rothman’s forthcoming album. “The Meaning” examines purpose, forgiveness and whether truth comes from somewhere divine or from wounds buried deep inside ourselves.
Here Lies Love / Sawdust to Stardust is Rothman’s fifth studio album and their most revealing work to date. Marking a full embrace of the Americana tradition, the album was written and recorded in Biarritz, France, and Nashville, Tennessee. Produced and mixed entirely by Rothman, the album features contributions from Amanda Shires, Katie Pruitt, Jillian Jacqueline and others. explores addiction, recovery, grief, identity, anxiety, lost love and the relentless act of surviving long enough to reinvent yourself. Grounded in the enduring tradition of Americana, it refuses to be confined to a single genre. Looking forward rather than backward, it pushes the form ahead through uncompromising songwriting, lyrical honesty, raw production and lived experience.
The new LP completes a trilogy that began with Good Morning, America (2021) and continued with The Plow That Broke the Plains (2024) – three albums conceived as a single, continuous body of work. The series was born out of the pandemic period, when a collaboration with Lucinda Williams pulled Rothman back to their roots in Nashville. The project represents Rothman’s most cohesive creative statement to date.
LAWRENCE ROTHMAN – HERE LIES LOVE / SAWDUST TO STARDUST
1. The Meaning
2. A Word’s A Weapon
3. Karmakaze (feat. Amanda Shires)
4. Stable
5. Deep Cut
6. Demons
7. Here Lies Love
8. Worn Out Woman
9. A Fire Test (feat. Sarah Klang)
10. Nothing Like Shakespeare
11. Slow Rush
12. Lost In Her Rock n’ Roll
13. Sawdust To Stardust
ABOUT LAWRENCE ROTHMAN:
Rothman is a singer-songwriter, producer and visual artist whose work has lived at the intersection of folk, rock, Americana and experimental pop for over two decades. Their acclaimed debut album, The Book of Law established Rothman as one of alternative music’s most singular voices. As a producer and collaborator, Rothman has worked with artists including Angel Olsen, Lucinda Williams, MUNA, Blondshell, Amanda Shires, Kim Gordon and Margo Price, helping shape records that transform personal vulnerability into powerful art, and drawing inspiration from those same artists in their own growth as a confessional songwriter.
