Listen to my favorite tracks off each album on my Spotify playlist! Updated weekly with all the best new country, Americana, and whatever else I feel like — this is music like your life depends on it.
Sierra Green and the Giants — Here We Are
Sierra Green is a force of nature on her album Here We Are. Won’t take long for you to figure out that there is simply no other way to describe Green’s monumental performance and the Giants’ exuberance. The New Orleans soul and funk band does the city credit with fiery performances — whether Green is mulling over heartbreak (frequently) or picking herself back up, she sounds triumphant. Her covers of “Girls Can’t Do What the Guys Do” and “This Is a Man’s World” take what feel like seemingly regressive attitudes and reframes them in pointed critique — both of how little things have changed, and of how much more power we have to fight against the patriarchy. Don’t worry — the party never slows down for an iota, and Here We Are is a must-listen album.
Will Hoge — Tenderhearted Boys
Few people Get It the way Will Hoge does. I admit, I’m a latecomer to his work, even though he’s been a cohort of the artists I tend to write about. I’d say this ain’t a bad intro, though. Hoge hits the exact sweet spot between outrage, compassion, tenderness, and determination that we could all use right now. Even as he tells hard truths in “Accountability” and “Deadbolt,” there is a warmth and kindness there: not just a belief that we as people should do better, but that it’s possible. Change is within our grasp, if we choose to reach out. And that is how we can create a world in which tenderhearted boys thrive. I’ll be coming back to this for my year-end list for sure.
Lizz Wright — Shadow
I would listen to Lizz Wright sing the phone book. This is my first introduction to her music, and oh boy, if you missed Shadow when it came out in April you had better hop right to it. The song resists any easy description: the anchoring force is Wright’s incredible voice. It is forceful enough to stop you in tracks, but supple enough to feel right at home regardless of the mood. Wright may be singing a classic ballad against a string quartet, an afrobeat groove with an earth-shattering drum line, folk, or jazz. Wright’s got it all, and Shadow is an immersive experience, a tour de force of a singer who knows exactly what she wants: everything.
Paige Plaisance — Different Now
I don’t really listen to Spotify shuffle — I’ve got about 100 artist pitches in my Inbox right now, so I have no shortage of new music to listen to. But Paige Plaisance came across my feed and it’s pretty much the only time — ever — that Spotify has served me someone that made me go “woah — who is that?” Different Now is a couple years old now, so maybe you all knew about Plaisance’s casually badass spin on trad country but if not, let’s get on board together. Different Now is a four-song EP that demonstrates Plaisance’s range. From the casual swagger of “Different Now” to the Cajun shuffle of “Bayou Moon” and the gentle regret of “Crazy One,” Plaisance stands in that sweet spot covered by Margo Cilker and Ashley McBryde: this is music by people who love country music as much as they love rock’n’roll, and they’re not afraid to add a sheen of modernity onto well-loved art forms.
Carly Pearce — hummingbird
Listen, I’m just as surprised to see Carly Pearce on an Adobe & Teardrops list as you but fuck — hummingbird is GREAT. (Thank you to Marissa R Moss and Natalie Weiner at Don’t Rock the Inbox for tipping me off here.) The album’s early singles, “country music made me do it” and “truck on fire” are just a hint at what’s under the surface on this album. If anything, the shine wore off for me because I’d heard them quite a bit, but the truth is hummingbird is all killer no filler. The songs focus on the prerequisite breakups and jilted lovers, but the more mature meditations on divorce, “we don’t fight anymore” and “my place” are devastating. Meanwhile, “fault line” is a classic country romp on the trashy coping mechanisms of explosive couples. I highlighted “woman to woman” because it is such an epic ballad of sisterhood with an arresting arrangement, so I couldn’t resist. But really, give this thing a spin.
You can check out tracks by these artists and more on the Adobe & Teardrops playlist — on Spotify.