Several of the best and two of the worst albums of the year can be found in this week’s roundup.
Jessie Murph
That Ain’t No Man That’s the Devil
With the caveat that this is not really for me, this is the first true Zoomer country album that’s made me worried, not thrilled, about the genre’s future. Killer title aside, this is all empty provocation in form and content beneath truly amateur-sounding recording.
George Strait
Cowboys & Dreamers
For 40 years, he’s been the genre’s bedrock for quality music: Always good in this exact, singular way, rarely less so, and rarely far superior. Because his voice has held up well, this could fall most anywhere in his catalog and not sound out of place or time.
The Cactus Blossoms
Every Time I Think About You
I always remember these guys as being more trad-country than they actually are, when they really operate best in a more cosmic plane. The brevity of these songs and album make this one feel perhaps unjustly slight, but it’s a fun, melodic ride all the same.
Wynonna
Back to Wy: Live
Top-notch recording of her first two solo albums, performed in their entirety. Thoughtful adjustments compensate for her just-slightly-diminished voice without losing any impact to these fiery, soulful performances. She sounds at a well-earned peace throughout.
Tami Neilson
Neilson Sings Nelson
One of the genre’s all-time greatest vocalists digs into the catalogue of one of the genre’s all-time greatest songwriters. How could this be anything less than extraordinary? Her interpretive gifts are simply unrivaled in the modern era.
Hannah Juanita
Tennessee Songbird
Her single (“Fortune”) a week ago was our first intro to her, and we are now fully ride-or-die on this train. This, her second album, is just stunning for her mastery of traditional genre conventions and her ability to bend those conventions to her will and whims.
The Grascals
20
As always, they fall on the midpoint between the traditionalism of a Del McCoury Band and the progressive ‘grass of a Punch Brothers, and they still pick as good as any outfit ever has. So good for so long that they’re easy to take for granted, but that’d be a mistake.
Thomas Rhett
About a Woman
Set aside the horrors of the Eric Church nostalgia song (?) and the Whitney Houston (?!?) interpolating song, and… well, there’s still nothing really to recommend here. The melodies and singing are as awkward as the attempts at writing about a woman’s interior life.
Sunny Sweeney
Still Provoked
Resequenced and expanded and Taylor’s Version’ed, an album that was already essential a decade ago is essential once again. This record still finds Sweeney at her most bawdy and wry, but she balances that POV with cutting introspection, too. A true ICYMI release.
Caleb Caudle
Sweet Critters
He’s enlisted some gifted collaborators (J.P. White, A. O’Donovan, A. Russell) for this set, but it’s truly Caudle and his ace road band that shine brightest on what’s easily his best record to date. A rootsy-and-woodsy triumph of tone and place.
Pony Bradshaw
Thus Spoke the Fool
He’s running a slight risk of becoming a (wait for it…) One Trick Pony, but when each of his albums is so spectacularly rendered, does it really matter that he’s always great in the same way? There’s simply no current act better at creating a true sense of place.
Whey Jennings
Jekyll & Hyde
Production pays tribute to his lineage in ways that ring true and are an easy, likable listen. Vocally, he clears the bar of singing better than Shooter, but that’s about it. An uneven collection of songs, too, but there are a couple of tracks to cherry-pick here.
Denitia
Sunset Drive
The warmth of her vocal tone and empathy of her songwriting are known commodities, so the surprise here are the trad-country flourishes she’s brought to this, her third and finest album. The aesthetic points to how genre signifiers can fit best into modern sounds.
Shovels & Rope
Something is Working Up Above My Head
A wildly uneven set that includes some career-bests (“Dass Hymn,” “Colorado River”) and baffling worsts (“Pirahnanana,” “I’d Be Lying”). When they do connect, few do underclass narratives justice in more captivating, scorched-earth ways.
I gotta say I was not terribly excited for the new George Strait album from the first three singles — and this is coming from a dude who has picked up his albums on release date ever since 1996’s Blue Clear Sky — but he absolutely delivered on the rest of it. I got this one on release date as well and have been playing it almost nonstop since yesterday. ”Wish I Could Say” is my favorite of the bunch — he sings the absolute fire out of this and it’s a thing of beauty — along with ”Honky Tonk Hall of Fame,” ”Calling From the Car,” ”To The Moon,” ”Rent,” and ”The Journey Of Your Life.” I also really dug the Waylon cover. Wasn’t real sure how that one would go over given that George wasn’t really a singer in the same vein as what Waylon did, but it was really good.
“Wish I Could Say” and “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame” are my favorites on this record, and they balance the dreadful lead single (“MIA Down in MIA”) and other pre-release tracks. I was expecting for his voice to have fallen off far more than it has, so I definitely agree that there are some moments on this when he sounds surprisingly youthful. It’s a good record because his records always are.
It’s a good record because his records always are.
Couldn’t have said it any better myself. But I am always so surprised at how good he sounds. I know it’s a cliche, but his voice has aged like a fine wine. I am glad he has taken such good care of it.
Wish I Could Say is such a cool song. The prominent organ is a surprising and wonderful instrumental flourish.
Haven’t had a chance to listen to the rest of Strait’s new album yet (along with most of his others post Love Is Everything), but I gotta say, I love the instrumentation and sound of Honky Tonk Hall of Fame, probably on par with his 2019 single Every Little Honky Tonk Bar, which was also a great late-career George Strait single.
I will be immensely disappointed if they decide not to release “Hall of Fame” as a single, given that I wasn’t too much of a fan of the other three singles released from the album. Considering Stapleton is basically a bigger star today on the radio than Strait is, I can imagine that his involvement in the song could potentially make it somewhat of a hit. Otherwise, it would be an absolute missed opportunity.