This week’s highlights include new releases from Danielia Cotton, Hayes & the Heathens, and Yasmin Williams.
Danielia Cotton
Charley’s Pride: A Tribute to Black Country Music [EP]
We’ve already raved about 3 of the 5 tracks here as standalone singles, and the others are every bit on the same level. Cotton’s as gifted and unique a vocalist as I’ve heard in ages, and she takes ownership of genre forms in a powerful way. Short but essential.
Jelly Roll
Beautifully Broken
Slick, catchy, well-crafted more often than not, this shows he’s unburdened by the King of Nickelback Country crown. Still, it raises rather than answers questions about how and why he deploys “broken” tropes only in broadest, most literal terms. It’s the only note he hits.
Hayes & the Heathens
Hayes & the Heathens
A miracle of twangy cosmic country that finds both of these acts bringing out the absolute best in the other. Much like Pistol Annies (name-checked here, I assume on purpose), this is far too great on its merits to be dismissed as a side project.
Clayton Mullen
Start at the End
Anonymous in most every way recorded music can be, this minimally competent set is noteworthy only for not being as actively offensive or problematic as some other recent albums by guys who sound and look exactly like this except most of them are wearing a ballcap.
Trampled by Turtles
Always Here [EP]
40% of the songs on this feature LeAnn Rimes, and I don’t know if there’s much more to say, really. She sounds phenomenal in their rootsy aesthetic, and the songs without her are of TbT’s usual sturdy country-folk construction.
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Live at the Ryman Vol. 2
Having just seen them live, I can’t abide the poor audio engineering and sound mixing on this record, which mars what is otherwise a terrific set-list that serves as a fine follow-up to the first of their Ryman volumes.
Dylan Marlowe
Mid-Twenties Crisis
The production is a knockoff of early-aughts emo without any meaningful country signifiers, and the songs are mostly tuneless, amelodic sloughs through the countless ways post-9/11 “country” culture failed this generation of rural white boys. A crisis of reactivity.
Yasmin Williams
Acadia
An album of (mostly) instrumentals that mines a deep well of genuine joy from the shared experience of playing music with kindred spirits. Williams’ gifts for arrangements and composition shine on songs that draw from folk, country, blues, and jazz conventions.
Tucker Wetmore
Waves On a Sunset
Who ordered a Morgan Wallen album on Temu?
Mindy Smith
Quiet Town
A just lovely comeback album that reflects how her relationship to her faith– so central to her earlier work– has evolved. “Light of Mine” functions as a de facto thesis for her version of gospel that balances both a deep spirituality and humanistic perspectives.
Julian Taylor
Pathways
Each individual track here is lovely, thoughtful, and indicative of a unique and interesting POV; the title track with Allison Russell, especially. All together, it’s perhaps a bit too mellow: Some greater variation in tempo and dynamics would elevate this set.
…that brief review of mr. wetmore’s record totally nailed it.
jelly roll’s “beautifully broken” is a rather fine, albeit somewhat excessive, effort. should he become the cma’s next eoty soon, faith hill’s famous reaction will quite likely drop to second or third place in the event’s history of most memorable incidents behind morgan wallen’s next potential little episode. alan jackson must be kept from presenting that award (if it goes to jelly roll indeed) – he may not stop at only setting fire to the envelope. they may consider nailing him onto his chair that night as a precaution.
the review written directly across the album cover like in dylan marlowe’s case? fresh thinking indeed. also clayton mullen’s cover reminds of something the guys at “farcethemusic” would have a field day with. two big puddles on the album cover of a guy named wetmore – hard to top that one in terms of farcing, ain’t it?