A quartet of four star efforts lead the way this week, courtesy of Lily Meola, Carin León, Brad Paisley, and Allison Russell.
Lily Meola
Lucky to Be
An assured, cohesive debut album following a few years’ worth of singles and EPs, this announces Meola as one of most gifted of the many, many talented Gen-Z women who ought to be wrestling control of the country mainstream from the Wallen acolytes and Pledge Week bros.
If her songwriting POV isn’t quite as distinctive as theirs just yet, she’s nonetheless in conversation with Willow Avalon and Carter Faith for how she draws with purpose and clarity from a deep well of genre influences without being overly beholden to notions of traditionalism. Her songs and performances move.
It’s no surprise then that she’s impressed Nelsons Willie and Lukas and Jamey Johnson, all of whom collaborate here, while creating a persona and style that only intermittently draws parallel to their work. She shines brightest when nodding to her native Hawaiian culture, a path for future growth.
Dailey & Vincent
Beautiful Life
As technically perfect as their albums always are, and without any real lapses in quality control as they close in on two full decades as the premier duo act in modern Grass. Still, there’s little here to distinguish this album from their earlier efforts.
The Malpass Brothers
Satisfied: Country Gospel Classics Live
Their best records make a point of doing interesting work within a genre throwback aesthetic. This collection of covers of familiar gospel standards is traditionalism for traditionalism’s sake. It’s fine, but they’re too talented to be reduced to rote cover bros.
Gary Stewart
One Track Mind
Another example of how he’s always deserved so much better than he got, this collection of previously unreleased vault recordings doesn’t always capture him at his formidable best. Compared to the Don Williams record, lovingly curated and produced; this is overlong, messy.
Shania Twain
Little Miss Twain
Subject of such misogynist dismissals and underestimation in her imperial era, she deserves all due credit and respect for the singular talents, POV, and sound she brought to the genre.
But her late-career music just… isn’t good. Lyme Disease has ravaged her voice to the extent that she’s lost any quality control over her tone and pitch, and lyrics that might’ve scanned as playful thirty years ago now just come across as either juvenile or tryhard. A couple of tracks pop or at least threaten to, but the majority careen wildly among different styles.
Maybe she has the goods for a “Confessions II” style legacy sequel / genuinely great statement of identity and purpose in her at some point, but she hasn’t given any evidence of that to date. Unfortunately, most of this record is just dreadful.
Hudson Macready
looks that follow [EP]
Noteworthy only for the fact that it’s rare that This Exact Guy only gets an EP instead of a full-length album, so perhaps a tide’s turning? Otherwise, there’s no telling him apart in one single way from four years’ worth of banal, genre-averse white (guy) noise.
Carin León
MUDA
He’s back to his genre-blurring best on most of this set, which pulls traditional Mexican forms into a range of contemporary country, pop, and R&B settings with a real panache. It’s the quiet numbers that showcase his legit great singing, but “En La Misma Cama” is a banger.
Brad Paisley
Tacklebox: Disc 1
As a collection of odds-and-ends, this is missing the thematic heft of his best albums, but it’s vintage Paisley on a song-for-song basis. Which means not every joke lands, but there’s a real mastery of structure and narrative, backed up by technical skill.
How this fits into an overall release strategy remains to be seen, as he’s now two years removed from the unfulfilled promise of the “Son of the Mountains” project. The reasons why Music Row turned on him aren’t subtle, but he’s still putting out quality work in what should be his legacy era.
Rodney Crowell
Then Again
His assessment that this set wasn’t quite up to the standard of the career-reviving triptych he’d recorded prior to this now-unvaulted record was correct. But would that others had such lofty expectations, since this is still awfully good in trademark Crowell ways.
Various Artists
Old No.1 Revisited
I really love the idea of this format for a tribute record– and what a record to pay tribute to, obvs– a lot more than I love the actual execution of the individual tracks. As is often the case with this kind of project, the performances are a mixed bag.
Brad Tursi
Colorado
Not as consistent as his predecessor, but it still remains utterly astounding how much better he is solo– and how much more clear an identity he has– than he is as part of Old Dominion. But as long as his day job allows him to make records this solid? Carry on, sir.
Rita Wilson
Sound of a Woman
She’s always had a pleasant enough voice, but she’s never had an identity as a recording artist beyond, “Rita Wilson wanted to make an album.” This pairing with Dave Cobb doesn’t really change that, despite a clear feminist throughline in the uneven songs collected here.
Hiss Golden Messenger
I’m People
The sincerity of the sentiments and the loveliness of the arrangements remain as singular as ever, but some of these attempts at timely political observations are just far too on the nose. His writing’s always strongest when he focuses inward, which wasn’t the aim here.
Allison Russell
In the Hour of Chaos
Joined by a tremendous group of collaborators, Russell makes a joyful noise on this set, with lilting melodies set against a cacophonous vision of Americana. If not her headiest work, there’s still depth in how she argues for the necessity of escapism in trying times.
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