Listen to my favorite tracks off each album on my Spotify or Tidal playlists! Updated weekly with all the best new country, Americana, and whatever else I feel like — this is music like your life depends on it.
Stephie James — As Night Fades
Stephie James turns back the dial on As Night Fades, a noir-ish reconstruction of ’60s pop music. The luxurious post-war optimism of strings, backing vocals, and rock bands with coordinated suits serves as an ironic backdrop to the ennui that pervades James’ songs. James’ retro revisionism calls to mind artists like St Paul and The Broken Bones and The Gaslight Anthem, who use those older styles to bring a special kind of poignancy to their work. James is a master at this, wielding her sound — and atmospheric voice — like a weapon that cuts right to the heart. As Night Fades is a party and a dirge all at once, celebrating the fleeting nature of life.
Andrew Jobin — The River Above Our House
Andrew Jobin’s The River Above Our House is charming as hell. In the grand tradition of New Orleans musicians, nothing about The River Above Our House takes itself seriously — which is, of course, what makes it deadly serious. Jobin’s trad-country stylings call to mind rough-and-tumble outlaw country artists of yore, and like those guys, Jobin observes life’s pitfalls with an ironic detachment and sign of resignation. That makes those moments of joy that much brighter, with “Welcome Stranger” a high point in an album that emphasizes the way we stumble through this life as best we can.
Desiree Cannon — Radio Heat
Cosmic country never sounded as good as it does on Radio Heat, the new album from Desiree Cannon. There’s just something a little…unearthly about the folk music that comes out of New Orleans. You could throw in a cliche about living next to the Mississippi, but I think it’s also the city’s emphasis on music for the hell of it, and Cannon’s luxurious interpretations of retro country sounds take all the time time they need to unfold with grace and confidence. For Cannon, there’s a timeless quality to her meditative songs of loss and loneliness, but a warmth as well — we can use this pain to learn some lessons, and be stronger for next time.
Laura Jane Grace — Hole In My Head
Laura Jane Grace returns to blistering form with Hole In My Head. I personally had a hard time with her last few albums but that’s probably because LJG was having a hard time herself, what with divorce, moving to a new city where she didn’t know anybody, and some conflicts she has publicly alluded to relating to Against Me! With Hole In My Head, it sounds like LJG is having fun again. “Fun,” of course, doesn’t necessarily translate to happy-go-lucky lyrics. These are still songs of struggle, but there’s also a hint of hope and perseverance here that’s been missing for some time. LJG plays fast and loose with genre, flitting between rock’n’roll to pop punk, country, and her trademark no-bullshit minimalism. Hole In My Head
Carter Sampson — Gold
As a music writer it is my responsibility to explain with words why I think an album is good but about halfway through Carter Sampson’s Gold I though to myself “fuck, shit, this is good” and I think that’s enough. But if you insist on going deeper, let’s start with Sampson’s arresting voice: soft-spoken, but cutting, the air of someone who has seen a lot and been disappointed more often than not, but a little disappointment never killed anyone. Gold is, at heart, a meditation of the road and the strange compulsion to keep making music, whether anyone is here to listen or not. There are lighter moments: “Drunk Text” is as genuine a love song as I’ve ever heard (I’m going to send it to my wife) and “Today Is Mine” delivers the simple pleasures of keeping your own company. Yet Sampson’s bluesy roots rock is best served with a dollop of dogged existentialism, and Gold offers plenty of that.
You can check out tracks by these artists and more on the Adobe & Teardrops playlist — on Spotify or Tidal.