A bumper crop of goodness this week.
Avery Anna
let go letters
Wisely leans even more in the Ashlee Simpson emo-pop direction that suits her best, but her lyricism is still too unrefined to pull off some of this TikTok Therapist conceit without mixing messages in odd and ineffective ways.
And there’s a “crying needs an audience” affectation to some of that overall conceit, too. Still, she does some super interesting stuff with dynamics and tempo in her writing and arrangements, and her singing continues to grow in power. It’s clear she has something great in store.
Ken Pomeroy
Cruel Joke
By leaning into her Cherokee heritage, she’s leveled-up her songwriting to such an extent that a collaboration with no less than John Moreland is the weakest track here. Paired with her ace guitar-work and evocative singing, that makes for one of the year’s best albums.
It is worth noting that, following the great albums by Samantha Crain and Jade Turner earlier this spring, this is turning into what feels like an important moment of visibility in and reclamation of country, folk, and Americana by indigenous women.
Parker Millsap & Lockeland Strings
Parker Millsap & Lockeland Strings [EP]
Millsap’s always at his best when he’s at his most blustery, and this live acoustic set is anything but that. The arrangements are lovely, intricate, and expertly performed by all involved. Still, this feels like an inessential stop-gap.
Jedd Hughes
Nightshades
He rocks about as hard as his plaintive tenor can withstand, and that’s the always the source of the best tension in his work. The production is perhaps a bit too spit-polished for my tastes, but this is never less than catchy, engaging work from a consummate pro.
Wheelwright
Everyone’s Rich
A bold thesis in the tariff era, especially for a thematically scattershot set like this. But there’s meat on the bones of these arrangements and a decent enough eye for detail. The weakest moments have an early-Mumford yelp to them, but this is promising overall.
Rhys Rutherford, ERNEST, Cody Lohden, and Chandler Walters
DeVille Records: Cadillac Sessions
As an introduction to the DeVille roster, this only does any favors to Chandler Walters, who can actually carry a tune and play a decent steel lick. Otherwise, it reinforces ERNEST’s wildly inconsistent taste level; it doesn’t work as a standalone mixtape at all.
Maren Morris
DREAMSICLE
Sure, the production is much more squarely in an adult-pop vein, and some of it’s too pedestrian for an artist of her caliber. But she can only ever write songs the way she writes them, and there are some stunners here. And she’s doing some best-ever singing.
As with “The Tree,” it’s a damning indictment that the country genre would happily let someone who can write and sing like this just walk away while they continue to talk about being one big family. And “too good,” one of the standout tracks here, certainly nods in that direction.
Blake Shelton
For Recreational Use Only
He’s never really given any indication that his ceiling is higher than this or that he’s motivated to do something more than this as he transitions to a legacy act. Most of the songs are decently-written, and most of them are over-sung because he doesn’t get camp at all. Eh.
Kristina Murray
Little Blue
She’s been great from the jump, but even still, this levels up. The throughline on these tremendous songs is the fight to keep her little blue from growing into a full-on monster cynicism, and I love how she acknowledges that can be a struggle. And such a vibe.
Caitlin Cannon
Love Addict
Is anyone better at writing from the POV of the seedy underbelly with such empathy and respect for the people they see around them? A bawdy, ribald triumph that shows further refinement of the “trash cannon” in form. Hers is a singular and essential perspective.
I’m With Her
Wild and Clear and Blue
All three of these women are on a run of career-best solo work, and their latest collaboration might, improbably, be even better. No one conveys urgency or intensity in quiet like these three when they’re in sync, and they’re in lockstep of moral clarity here.
I look for these roundups every Monday with high anticipation!
I was wondering about the I’m with Her album. I have had trouble really getting into them because of seeming lack of tempo (though their cover of “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)” is a household favorite!) , but I’ll check this album out since you’ve given it such high praise. Plus, I’m a diahard Sarah Watkins fan anyway.
…the singer, the title, the songs all very well with christina murray’s album, but i wouldn’t have minded it to be a little less evian-ish.
this “another thing to love” that ernest does with miranda lambert is a gem. ms lambert once more elevates a project a couple of notches. overall, a bit all over the place this collection of material and performers but that one song is pure country gold. interestingly, ernest has been having a tune that made me pressing repeat regularly more than once in the last few years. lots of talent there, if only his vocals were a little more gripping. then again, that’s what he’s had lainey and miranda for. smart cookie too.
ken pomeroy should stop being afraid to bring a few pleasant melodies to the studio. they don’t take away anything from good lyrics.
avery anna has been on my radar for a while now and she just keeps getting better and better. let’s hope we won’t have to hear a ten-year-town-song from her one day.
it does what it says on the cover, mr. shelton’s latest. that’s not the smallest feat.
not been with them yet, but let’s see what that trio is holding in store there some other day.
Re. I’m With Her: They are probably as close an approximation to The Trio and The (Dixie) Chicks as we have now in music; and of course, mainstream country radio will never play them because, for one, they are all women, and two, their sound is too “different” from, say, Miranda Lambert or Lainey Wilson. A very cynical observation, I know; but there it is.