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.
Kasey Anderson — To The Places We Lived
It’s hard to say goodbye, but Kasey Anderson has shown us how to do so gracefully on his last album before his retirement* from music on To the Places We Lived. (Anderson still plans to make music and play here and there, but he won’t be adhering to an album cycle or work on music full-time.) This album is gorgeous — it distills his primary themes and the distinguishing features of his songs into one potent collection of songs. Anderson examines his past and allows that to lead to the future — failed romances, his parents’ lives and the loss of his father, and the creation of his own family. Anderson paints this pictures with his characteristic couplets that knock you down where you stand, paired with undeniable Americana grooves. The minimal electronic flourishes along the way (such as on “Leave An Echo”) give the songs an intriguing texture. Anderson might be leaving the road behind, but surely not his creative exploration.
Cashavelly — Meditation Through Gunfire
Cashavelly pulls absolutely no punches on Meditation Through Gunfire. Honestly, it’s difficult to pick a song for the playlist — they’re all bangers that’ll kick you in the nuts if you have them. That’s not crude; Meditation takes a scorched-earth policy to patriarchy’s roots. These power pop songs are feminist anthems, an assertion of personhood amidst a society that works hard to deny it to the majority of the population. Cashavelly approaches these themes with snark, sincerity, anguish, and triumph — all in an attempt to get at the core of what makes us who we are and resisting the forces that try to shape us.
The Duke of Surl — Borneo
When you find yourself adrift, lash out. At least, that’s the thesis of The Duke of Surl’s Borneo. This psych garage rock fantasia is a concentrated blast of ennui, frustration, loneliness, adventurousness, and playfulness — after all, once the sands have shifted beneath your feet, you might as well get creative with it. Borneo is disorienting and disoriented — and finds amusement in all of it. The album is a strange and exhilarating ride, with The Duke of Surl reminding us to hang on tight — and enjoy the process.
Conor Donohue — Stray Dogs
New Orleans’ based Conor Donohue is that kid who colors outside of the lines, showing us something beautiful in all the mess. Stray Dogs revels in the unexpected, dabbling in Americana, rock’n’roll, electronica, and pop — all in the service of a fierce self-expression. Donohue chronicles his life living with chronic pain — and searching for peace — on this eclectic collection. Each song is a jewel all of its own, with dense lyrics and probing instrumentation that proves Donohue expects nothing less than the best of himself — and that we should all expect as much from life, no matter the obstacles thrown at us.
Julian Taylor — Pathways
Bringing things full circle back to Americana, Julian Taylor grounds us with Pathways. The album is a warm invitation to take in what’s around us. The title track belongs as the first dance of every wedding, a beautiful meditation on the hope that comes with love: a hope for eternity that is never guaranteed, but always renewed. When Taylor hits his bass register on “Ain’t Love Strange” and “Sixth Line Road,” it’s like a cloud suddenly passing over the sun. While most of Pathways centers on hope and perseverance, there’s the flip side of that coin: the stuff you have to persevere through. On those songs, Taylor’s urgency cannot be denied.
You can check out tracks by these artists and more on the Adobe & Teardrops playlist — on Spotify.