Everything in this week’s roundup is worth a listen.
Willow Avalon
Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell
Aesthetically, this debut splits the differences between the best of her dad (Jim White!) and the best of Lindi Ortega, and that’s not a hard sell. Killer lead single (“Yodelayheewho,” with Maggie Antone) is but one highlight on a set that’s wise and wiseass in equal measure.
LANCO
We’re Gonna Make it
Songwriting is professional in all of the most generic ways. For a current mainstream album, that puts it at least a cut above their hackier peers: Swap this crew out for Parmalee. Aesthetic skews more stomp-clap-hey than their norm, but they do pull that off capably.
Crys Matthews
Reclamation
Foregrounding country signifiers on this set is a purposeful and powerful choice that deepens Matthews’ message about taking up space without apology. Like many folk heroes, her lyrics can lapse into broadsides, but 2025 isn’t really a time for subtlety, now is it?
Olivia Wolf
Silver Rounds
Compares favorably to another Olivia– Rodrigo– for the way she pulls disparate points of influence into her songs without much regard for how artists have historically done so; I love how Gen Z acts do this. Wolf pushes hard against, escapes Americ-yawna trappings.
Yola
My Way [EP]
Will I miss her in the country and country-adjacent space? Yes. Is this a riveting EP that showcases the extraordinary breadth of her talent? Also yes. The things she does with her voice here (“Symphony,” “Ready”) are absurd. This new direction suits her so very well.
Luke Trimble
Headed Out the Holler
Whole lot to love about the mix of modern ‘grass and contemporary folk on Trimble’s debut record, but Lord God do the young’uns need to stop modeling their singing style after Zach Bryan. When Trimble settles into his own voice, he’ll be a major artist.
Rabbi Sandra and the Protestant White Boys
A Song For a New Year [EP]
Love the empathy and the thoughtfulness of the songwriting and the flourishes of twang in these arrangements, but some of the vocals veer pretty wildly off-pitch in a way that’s distracting. Still, the songwriting POV is essential and one-of-a-kind.
That Willow Avlon record is a real gem. Grant it still in January but the songwriting is really strong and has a unique voice. Cross between Lindi as you mentioned but I picked up Abra Moore vocally. I thought each song has some great lines. Hey there Dolly’s opening lines made laugh immediately.
I try to keep “niche” comparisons to a relative minimum in my bullet reviews, but as someone who purchased “Four Leaf Clover” on cassette single back in the day? I celebrate you and this comment, friend. Absolutely hear Moore in Avalon’s vocal timbre.
Aesthetically, there’s a good deal of Moore’s style in the Olivia Wild album, too. I actually considered making a Poe. comparison on that one!
…since you enjoy ms. avalon’s new album, mr. pappas, i’d recommend you’d watch her on “the zach sang show”, where she is telling one of the wildest life stories i’ve heard in a long, long, long time.
at some point she mentioned that the label(s) saw her more as a future pop artist rather than a country one initially. that may appear ill-judged after the release of her debut album now, but after watching her appearing on “the late show” the other day, one gets a notion why they thougt so. i couldn’t help getting a distinct lily allen (compare “homewrecker” with “not fair”), carly rae jebsen or kacey musgraves vibe and charm there.
what a natural, ms. avalon.
Lol I kinda get it. Abra Moore hasn’t put out a lot of music especially here lately but her album “Everything’s Changed” has a lot of positive memories attached to it. Wish she was bigger but don’t we all wish that for our favorites.
I haven’t dug into Olivia’s album enough to fully appreciate but did enjoy Yola’s EP even though it’s not the music I typically listen to. Very catchy and a lot of cool musical moments and it had to be fun as hell to be the vocal choir backing her up.