A five star effort from Kaitlin Butts headlines this week’s crop of new releases.
Lorrie Morgan
Dead Girl Walking
Does right by her late producer, Richard Landis: The overall sonic palette here is so smartly matched to her weathered voice. As ever, her taste in material and theatrical phrasing can make for a wild ride, but when this record works, it’s pretty stellar.
Johnny Cash
Songwriter
But for the terrible Auerbach track and a Metamodern Sounds…-aping opener, this wisely places these songs in a retro-country aesthetic that works more often than not. The simplicity of the arrangements accomplishes the goal of focusing on Cash’s solid songwriting.
Kaitlin Butts
Roadrunner!
Spectacular. A triumph of genre-savvy that works bc Butts in no way feels beholden to toxic notions of traditionalism or authenticity. “Other girls don’t act like this, but other girls ain’t havin’ any fun,” is the thesis here, and no one at all acts quite like this.
Jesse Malin
Chasing the Light
Not as essential as his studio recordings always are, this is still a terrific live set that captures Malin’s unique balance between rock-star swagger and introspective troubadour. The killer set list would make this a fine introduction for the unconverted, too.
Priscilla Block
PB2 [EP]
A better singer than some of her contemporaries, but she’s eager to hide that in arrangements that ask her to do little more than half-sing over the same pedestrian beats everyone else on Music Row uses. Only the clever final track, “Apartment,” points to her actual skill.
Jim Lauderdale
My Favorite Place
Another winner from country’s forever Cool Uncle. He remains in fine voice, with his wit and genre know-how both as strong as ever. Pity that the mainstream no longer has any acts with the chutzpah or wherewithal to cover his material like they used to.
Lauderdale was one of Patty’s go-to’s during her unrivaled Epic era; Halfway Down and You Don’t Seem To Miss Me are two of her best singles during that run.