Charley Crockett and the Lostines lead this week’s batch of new releases.
Charley Crockett
$10 Cowboy
The constant self-mythologizing should have grown tiresome by now, but he’s so skilled when it comes to building lore– and such a great singer, besides– that he keeps his formula sounding vital. Another winner from Crockett.
The Lostines
Meet the Lostines
A spectacular throwback of a debut record, with exquisite harmony work and a vintage aesthetic that imagines a low-fi Nashville Sound that’s occasionally punctuated by forceful Wall-Of-Sound blasts. Niche (?) comparison here to a more country-adjacent The Pierces.
Anne Wilson
REBEL
Embracing conventional religious doctrine and mainstream country tropes does not a rebel make, but Wilson’s got something here that’s promising. She needs producers and engineers who know how to win the Loudness War, and she needs to work with a vocal coach on her rebellious vibrato.
Wyatt Flores
Half Life
Already showing growth from last year’s debut record, Flores continues in a more tuneful Zach Bryan vein. Like Bryan, there remains cause for concern regarding quality control: The Fray cover was an idea better kept in his brain, but the title track is stunning beyond his years.
Various Artists
Live On Mountain Stage: 4o Year Anniversary – Outlaws & Outliers
A compilation that really captures the importance of this venue as a stage where country traditions are upheld and progressive visions of the genre take flight. Uneven, as these things always are, but some essential tracks, to be sure. (Lucinda Williams, Wilco, Rhiannon Giddens)
Glen Campbell
Duets: Ghost On the Canvas Sessions
His retirement album was a career highlight worth revisiting, which is the primary appeal here. Some of these “duet” versions work (Hope Sandoval! X!), while others sound literally phoned-in (Eric Church, Linda Perry), and it lacks the gravitas of the original project.
John McEuen
The Newsman: a man of record
An album with an interesting concept that McEuen pulls off with all of the technical know-how he’s demonstrated across generations. Is it something I envision revisiting as a piece of music / spoken-word poetry? I’m not convinced of that. An admirably big swing, though.
The Secret Sisters
Mind, Man, Medicine
No one does harmony arrangements like this duo, and those are the main selling point here, on an album that’s never less than lovely and moody but that rarely does more to draw active attention. The Ray LaMontagne collaboration has earned them an AAA hit, though, and praise be.
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