Eric Bibb leads the week.
Eric Bibb
One Mississippi
As ever, what makes Bibb a genre titan is how he pairs the wisdom and POV of a forward-thinking folkie with a generational mastery of traditional blues conventions. This collection of narratives is among the most empathetic, deeply human of his storied career. Essential.
Melissa Carper & Theo Lawrence
Havin’ a Talk
Indeed, the vibe is conversational and casual in all the best ways, and it’s as charming as their solo efforts always are. It’s not quite as essential as their solo records, but that’s perhaps too high a bar to set for a purely fun side project like this.
Claudia Hoyser
Before the Dawn
To her credit, she’s spent the five years since her debut album building a robust brand and social media following, though both outstrip and oversell the quality of her just solid enough songwriting and modest vocal ability. It’s never more or less than adequate Music Row fare.
Jake Scott
Same Room
At some point, we’ll reach critical mass for this exact type of formless contemporary folk, but not yet, alas. Like Noah Kahan, Scott fares far better when he bothers to craft a pop hook than when he goes for Zach Bryan’s mope. In either case, these returns diminish.
Natalie Del Carmen
Pastures
Her debut announced one of Gen Alpha’s finest singer-songwriters, and this second outing finds NDC leveling up in a major way. These songs perfectly capture that mid-20s pressure to figure out the exact kind of adult you aspire to be on your best days.
She’s also figured out that it’s both the people and the places around her that will get her to where she wants to be, even if she’s not in much of a hurry.
Beyond the incisive songwriting, the heft of her singing impresses, as does her use of fiddle and steel as anchors, not authenticity props.
Catherine Britt
The Hardest Thing
Both for the superior quality of her writing and singing and for its concept– a long narrative arc about the phases of a doomed relationship– this set favorably recalls Allison Moorer’s landmark The Hardest Part from a generation back. Britt’s finest work to date.
Langhorne Slim
The Dreamin’ Kind
He’s an artist of many strengths, but the way this album careens from one aesthetic to another– he sounds like Slobberbone on one track, then vintage Cat Stevens on the next– does not play to them. Sure, those individual tracks are fine, but it’s a mess of an album.
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