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.
Mike June — Modern American Folk Music
It’s been way too long since I’ve reviewed a Mike June album. It’s also been way too long since he’s released one. Modern American Folk Music is the result of June tinkering around and adding his country rock instincts to dance music. The result is a fiery, political album you can shake out your rage to. June was inspired by the fascist movement to censor books in schools, and while the electronic beats feel novel and fun, the clear-eyed rage underlying them is anything but. However, June’s record drops at an interesting time: country disco is a thing now. It’s not just Chappell Roan; I’m starting to hear it on mainstream records, too. Seems to me that we are all recognizing that breaking boundaries is better — whether that’s politically, or for selling records, or for signalling both. With June, these intelligent commentaries on our political mess go down easier with his inventive beats, but that makes them no less relevant.
Linda Dunnavant concocts a dreamy landscape on Hidden Lake. This is an album designed for a languid summer afternoon — or, if it’s the wrong time of year, to transport you there. These are calm, thoughtful songs about connection and repair. As Dunnavant illustrated on “Own It,” relationships are all about give and take — the ebb and flow of a tide. There are a number of inventive compositions here — Dunnavant excels at pulsing, questing indie rock, but there’s no denying her adventurousness when she experiments with reggae, folk, and country…and makes it all seamless.
Oceanator — Everything is Love and Death
Few things hit quite like an Oceanator song of love unrequited love, and fortunately we have an entire album of them. Everything is Love and Death represents both a refinement of the band’s craft, but also a departure into more intriguing waters. Songs like “Cut String” and “First Time” are tried and true rockers. “Happy New Year” is Oceanator at its best, with their trademark grooves, even-handed performances, and professions of breaking things off once and for all. But it’s “All the Same” and “Drain the Well” with their math rock-like intricacy that finds Oceanator pushing the envelope and further developing their already superior instincts.
e ruth — New Roads, Same Sky
e ruth delivers a stunning debut EP with New Roads, Same Sky. Now living in Washington, ruth is haunted by her time spent in New Mexico (I mean, same — just look at this web design) and this intricate anti-folk album reflects the eerie spaciousness and hostility of that landscape. “Arroyo” perhaps best exemplifies this, as ruth compares her emotional dry spell to the desert feature. As ruth unspools her road songs, we are brought on a journey as winding and meaningful as any road trip. ruth’s murmured words guide us like yellow lines down the road through a life of curiosity. Sometimes that brings pain, sometimes joy but, more than anything else, ruth gives us the sense of truly living.
Laura Jane and the Mississippi Medicals — Give an Inch
This is the cowpunk album I was hoping we’d get from Laura Jane Grace when she signed to Bloodshot. But hey — we have it now and it RIPS. “RazorBlade Blues” keeps us on the edge of our seat with suicidal ideation, the loves that keep us going,and searing guitar hooks. “Hoka, Hoka — One, One” takes on a more mellow honky-tonk tinge, while “Fuck You, Just Because” asserts Grace’s drive to survive anything life throws at her. The music is flawless, but that’s no surprise given Grace is backed by Matt Patton of Drive-By Truckers (bass), Mikey Erg of The Ergs (drums) and Paris Campbell Grace (vocals, percussion.) This is a loud little EP with a ton of heart — and it’s as country as fuck.
You can check out tracks by these artists and more on the Adobe & Teardrops playlist — on Spotify.