Fans hoping for a continuation of Lord's previous work, however, will be disappointed. Lord's previous EPs, released on the aptly named Kill Rock Stars label, have featured breathy, hesitant vocals accompanied only by her simple, earnest acoustic guitar. Her recordings had a first-take feeling, with all the voice cracks and rhythmic mistakes left in. This created an air of intimacy that won Mary Lou a small but devoted following and left major labels fighting to sign her. The result is Got No Shadow, on which Lord has abandoned her unadorned guitar to take a full-band approach.
Most tracks feature a full-on electric guitar solo, bass, and drums.
Lord's literate litany of cover songs is giving way to her own compositions. On Got No Shadow, Lord collaborated with Nick Saloman, frontman for the London psychedelic band The Bevis Frond. While none of the songs here are true heirs to Lord's former neo-folkie approach, the majority are strong in their own right. The track's not only a lesser effort by Lord but also an embarrassment to Saloman. Lord rerecorded three songs from her previous releases for Got No Shadow, with mixed results.