My first response upon hearing Fretland was to search for the assumed missed steps to the trio’s musical present. Could Have Loved You is so affecting and mature — blindsidingly so — that it only felt right to assume that […]
All we really need to know about this album is that Loretta Lynn performs electrifying new versions of many of her classic songs, and her strong voice still soars and rings with emotional clarity. If that weren’t enough — and […]
With Morgan Wade’s debut, Reckless, we may be seeing a pivot in outlaw country. Ten years after the debut of Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup,” men singing rollicking tunes about women, weed, and wine on the radio are hardly transgressive. […]
Best known for his seminal production work with such artists as Brian Eno, U2, Bob Dylan, Sinéad O’Connor, and Emmylou Harris, as well as his film score for 1996’s Sling Blade, Daniel Lanois has also explored a variety of musical […]
On Daddy’s Country Gold, Melissa Carper demonstrates why the Great American Songbook has been so enduring. While Carper’s effortless bass lines and her band’s elegant piano accents recall an era we now call “classy,” it’s Carper’s ingenious songwriting that takes […]
Hours before David Olney passed away onstage in January 2020, he listened for the first time to the final mix of Whispers and Sighs, his forthcoming album with emerging artist Anana Kaye. His response? “Fuck, yeah! This is good!” That […]
In Rebecca Solnit’s book Wanderlust: A History of Walking, she contends that “modern life is moving faster than the speed of thought, or thoughtfulness.” Even during the last year of COVID-19 lockdowns, the quickness of modern life has persevered, and […]
True to its title, Charles Lloyd & The Marvels’ album unfolds orchestrally, tracing various musical phrases and themes through a sonic landscape that evokes bright or pensive moodiness, joyous contemplation, and searching prayerfulness. While all of Tone Poem soars through […]
Lake Street Dive has been proudly wearing the “quirky” label for the better part of a decade. Their obsession of 1970s AM radio pop — right down to covers of “Lola” and “Rich Girl” — blends perfectly with offbeat lyrics […]
Man, the new Israel Nash album is a corker. The backstory behind Topaz is fascinating: Nash built a Quonset hut recording studio a few hundred feet from his Texas home and spent most of last year holed up in it, […]
