Listen to my favorite tracks off each album on my Spotify and 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.
Onoleigh — First Rodeo
Onoleigh brings her powerful voice to pop country confections of long nights, brown liquor, and the ups and downs that come along with it. First Rodeo is a strong collection of songs from an artist who’s been honing her skills since she was a teenager. Onoleigh’s house style blends the sinuous melodies favored by Music Row with the can’t-miss-it bombast of contemporary pop music. This may be Onoleigh’s first rodeo, but these songs are destined for arenas. While the EP is a collection of non-stop bangers and big beats, I’m looking forward to seeing what Onoleigh can do with a ballad in future efforts.
Jason Isbell — Foxes in the Snow
God damn. If Jason Isbell’s last few albums were a bit inconsistent — anxiety-ridden and tense — Foxes in the Snow makes up for them. It’s just Isbell, his guitar, and a mic. Producer/engineer Gena Johnson gets the best out of these songs, capturing the searing intimacy, wry humor, fury and grief that come with divorce. Isbell is too perceptive a songwriter and person to sling mud, but he seems fairly even-handed in apportioning blame. His songs about toughing things out and the tentative attempts at new starts hurt almost as much as fond recollections and grief. Foxes in the Snow is a painfully, joyously, human album and easily one of the best to come out this year.
Leon Bridges — Leon
The love in Leon Bridges’ latest masterpiece, Leon, is overwhelming. It’s not just about love between two people (though of course there’s that) as it is a sense of love for a place: Bridges’ home of Fort Worth. This is an album about taking stock of what matters to you after years of global stardom. Bridges could sing the phone book and sound fantastic. What stands out to me here is the marriage of modern sensibilities and analogue instruments, an approach to music that is wholly Bridges’. Leon is a excellence encapsulated into one album, a mark of pride in Bridges’ already storied output.
Jill Barber — Homemaker
This is the best album you didn’t listen to in 2023. Homemaker is a heart wrecker in the best way possible. The album, much like Stephanie Lambring’s Hypocrite, examines the ambivalence towards settling down: marriage, raising a family, and, for women, orienting your identity towards others rather than yourself. I could write paragraphs about each song on here, truly. “Instant Cash For Gold” considers the humble pawn shop and the broken dreams it represents, while linking those tawdry tales to slinging songs. “Join Account” is a touching metaphor for marriage and the ways committing our finances is a metaphor for committing one’s feelings. “Woman Of My Own Dreams” hits that moment of realization — what the hell am I doing here? In the suburbs? It’s The Feminine Mystique in three chords and the truth, delivered with warmth and humility. And that’s only scratching the surface.
Homemaker isn’t desperate, but it is honest about its occasional discontent. It also celebrates the things worth fighting for. It’s a complex album that reflects our own complexities, and it’s astonishing. If you listen to only one album all the way through today, make it this one.
Caitlin Cannon — Beggar
I’m a little late to Caitlin Cannon’s Beggar, especially since her next project, Love Addict, is coming out in May. That being said, Beggar is a potent collection of songs. These are all sketches of people who have been cast aside — and how they respond. “The Alchemist” teases out self-doubt and imposter syndrome in a grand display. “Beggar” refuses to take these conditions lying down, however, while “Between Amarillo and Little Rock” elegantly ties macropolitical frameworks and humor into an inauspicious traffic stop. That smile will get wiped right off your face with the final track, “Waiting,” about two roads that diverge tragically. Beggar brims with confidence, a series of silky performances from Cannon, and hard-hitting lyrical power that hint at what’s to come with Love Addict.
You can check out tracks by these artists and more on the Adobe & Teardrops playlist — on Spotify and Tidal.