If you’ve followed Lera’s career over the last decade — through True Detective (she both cowrote the Season 2 theme song with T Bone Burnette and Roseanne Cash, and acted in the show), through motherhood, through a handful of sonic evolutions — you know she’s not afraid to change.

But in this latest season of her life, she didn’t just evolve; she let go. Gave her old self a funeral, as she puts it.

And in doing that, she found a deeper connection to music — one that didn’t have to justify itself with relevance or approval. It just had to be real.

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We got into the weeds on her new album Comic Book Cowboy (see below) — why it almost didn’t happen, and why she had to make it anyway. Produced with creative and life partner Todd Lombardo, it’s a record that asks hard questions about ego and self-worth, and it does it without flinching.

We also touched on the things that scare artists right now: AI impersonation, shrinking royalties, an increasingly passive culture around art. Lera brings a clarity to these challenges that I found empowering — not because she had easy answers, but because she’s learned to live with the tension. To stay curious, and to keep making the thing.

If you’re navigating your own version of reinvention — creatively, professionally, personally — I think this episode will speak to you. Sometimes letting go is the bravest part of beginning again.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here on Apple Podcasts or Spotify📀 Lera’s new album Comic Book Cowboy is out now 👇

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