Sunny Sweeney leads a week with several strong new releases.
Keller Cox
Care to Look [EP]
And yet another one from the TX public university pipeline. This one of This Exact Guy is different because he doesn’t wear a ballcap and he sings more like Gary LeVox or Brett Young and his songs at least have passable melodies, even if the POV is largely the same.
Austin Williams
Somebody Single [EP]
Music City, where it’s Pledge Week, every week. This one, in particular, cannot sing or half-rap worth a damn. There’s no pattern for which of them actually get traction, so who’s to say if he’s more grist-mill fodder or a future A-lister, and I’m so tired.
Morgan Wade
The Party is Over (recovered)
Her strongest, most consistent album yet, even though a bunch of these songs are reworked material from before her record deal. Setting that probably-not-great consideration aside, this highlights her gifts for rough-edged narratives and drawl-forward, passionate singing.
Eli Young Band
Strange Hours
That they’ve actually held a consistent identity as a band for so long is the explanation of why Old Dominion and Parmalee kept a mainstream spot and this crew didn’t. This is another perfectly fine if unremarkable iteration of their polished, rock-leaning formula.
Sunny Sweeney
Rhinestone Requiem
A testament to all that a gifted artist can accomplish while working within the narrow scope of a pure honky-tonk aesthetic, this set boasts her most incisive, cleverest writing to date while sticking to the style where her voice truly sounds its best. Essential.
Abbie Callahan
Grossly Aware
She’s learned all the best lessons from Kacey Musgraves and Sierra Ferrell, and puts them to spectacular use. The POV is thoroughly Gen Z, set to a cleverly arranged brand of country that’s unafraid to be twangy or contemporary as the mood dictates. A tremendous new talent to follow.
Max McNown
Night Diving (The Cost of Growing Up)
The Benson Boone of Zach Bryans. Or, more 2025, the Hudson Westbrook of Alex Warrenses. This is as middlebrow as the headlamp he’s sporting on the album cover, and it is one billion years long. There’s a baseline but forgettable competence in a Hot AC x pop-country way.
Y’all, Vince Blake himself could have offered me $500K on “What’s That Name,” and I would never have been able to recall having reviewed a standard edition issue of this album back in January.
Grayson Jenkins
Country Parables
The songwriting and the polished trad-country production both pack a wallop; he can turn quite the phrase and evoke a clear sense of place, all in service of a thoughtful narrative. But the vox need work: He sings like Bruce Robison w shakier pitch and tone.
Emily Lubitz
Two Black Horses
The world needs more gothic country-folk albums in this vein, and Lubitz’s striking and distinctive singing– and her utterly wicked gallows humor– make this a fine example of the form. Could stand a bit more sonic variety, dynamic range, but an image-heavy winner.
Cody Jinks
In My Blood
Modern outlaw country stalwart continues: There are far worse things to be than Jamey Johnson with a better singing voice and a more well-groomed beard, but there are some tracks here that are too obvious as retreads of his own earlier work. Quite good, if not his best.
Shawnee Kish
Chapter 1
In a landmark year for Indigenous women reclaiming “Americana” and country space, Kish may have the most unapologetic and identity-forward stances of all. She certainly has one of the most powerful singing voices I’ve heard on a new artist in a minute. A tremendous debut.
Just wanted to note my appreciation for these every week. Must read for me ever since it started, and every week I either learn about a great new release, or they make me think about a title I already know in a new light. I can’t count the amount of times one of these reviews has made me think deeper about a project. This week the Morgan Wade was on the nose about why I liked this one so much more — the POV was much more rough around the edges than the last couple records from her.
For my money Jonathan is the single best music critic going today.
Thanks for all the work that goes into these, it’s deeply appreciated.
Same! I look forward to these roundups every week as well! There have been countless times when I would not have even paid attention to an album if not for this feature. For instance, I wouldn’t have given the newest Frankie Ballard album a chance, but since Jonathan reviewed it favorably, I just had to check it out and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it is.
Also, I’m loving the Sunny Sweeney album !