Name: New Country Album Releases This Week | Holler
Brand: holler.country
SKU: holler-country-5
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

New Country Album Releases This Week | Holler

preview

By Ross JonesLink copiedWith September waltzing off into the sunset for another year, here at Holler the sweaters are coming out of the cupboard and the pumpkin spiced lattes are being ordered in high demand. With AMERICANAFEST and Pilgrimage just about tying up festival season too, we're chomping at the bit to settle in under a blanket on the sofa and listen to the plethora of albums that are set to be released over the next couple months. It's a good job then that there's some rich, tasty records being released this week that we can delve into. Celebrating what's been another triumphant year for the hardest working artist in the game, Charley Crockett has released his first ever live album. Capturing his sold-out show at The Ryman Auditorium last November, it sums up everything that's great about ol' Jukebox, and we thoroughly recommend it.Alongside Crockett, we have new albums out today from bluegrass favourites Boy Named Banjo and New West's The Howdies, as well as a powerful new album from Roberta Lea.Flying the flag for the UK, we've also got new albums two of the British Isles' most exciting prospects, Eddy Smith &amp; The 507 and Jack Browning. Let's delve in.Naturally, when Charley Crockett played the Ryman for the first time in November of ‘22, it marked a major career milestone for the South Texas singer-songwriter. Touring at the time behind his breakout album The Man from Waco, Crockett sold the place out on a Monday night.Crockett’s entire performance from that evening is now commemorated with both an album and a concert film, each titled Live from the Ryman. Live albums, of course, have to convey a unique feeling of ambience in order to stand out on their own. Live from the Ryman delivers. Crockett and his band the Blue Drifters have become so proficient onstage that one might expect their controlled precision to undermine the human element of their act. Thankfully, that’s not the case here.Right off the bat, with set opener ‘Cowboy Candy’, Crockett and company showcase their willingness to augment the songs with fuller arrangements. This version of ‘Cowboy Candy’ courses with lifeblood thanks to a new, highly energizing drum part from drummer Mario Valdez.Mix engineer Ben Fowler audibly positions the band so that the music feels somewhat far away—an aesthetic choice that gives this album a distinct sonic character, even if it might take some listeners time to get used to.As a snapshot of an artist at a critical stage in their career, Live from the Ryman fittingly captures Charley Crockett reaching the mountaintop and savoring the view.Rating: 9 / 10Review By: Saby Reyes-KulkarniRead Saby Reyes-Kulkarni's full review of Charley Crockett's Live from the Ryman here.In the current climate of super-sized albums, this nine-song major label debut from Boy Named Banjo feels like a breath of fresh air. Fueled by countrified versions of U2-inspired arena anthems ('Something 'Bout A Sunset'), rockabilly ragers ('Heart Attack', ‘Whiskey Dreams’) and grappling with their lives as entertainers (‘Mama, I’m Midbehavin’’), the five-piece’s fusion of bluegrass, folk-rock and everything in between all but blurs the lines between country’s famed Music Row and Americana’s haven of Laurel Canyon.Sprinkling in their tight three-part harmonies and organic instrumentation, Dusk possesses a lot of nuance. It’s best exemplified in ‘Goodbyes Are Sad’, reiterating one of life’s undeniable truths that comes in so many different forms. Though dripping in lyrical melancholy – without trying to overcomplicate its simple messaging – the production allows you to forget just how heavy the prose is. This quality can be applied throughout much of DUSK, including the breezy break-up ballad of ‘Lonely In This Town’.Void of sounding like a 2023 remake of beloved figures or classic tunes, the record’s 30-minute runtime doesn’t seek to follow any pre-approved formula for country success. It thrives in doing so.Rating: 8.5 / 10Review By: Lydia Farthing“Too loud, too strong, too much attitude”, Roberta Lea sings on the title track of her debut LP, Too Much Of A Woman. She continues to list all the ways she’s an affront to fragile male egos just by her very existence, standing unapologetically in her power as a woman.“Too big, too small, we can never measure up", she sings, all before delivering the eye-rolling denouement. “If I’m too much of a woman, then you’re too little of a man”.Ranging from the countrified neo-soul of songs like ‘Make Up Your Mind’ and the playful Shania Twain-stadium pop of ‘Girl Trip’, right through to the out and out country of ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’ and ‘Small Town Boy', it’s a beautifully well-rounded record, one that never once lets up over the course of 11 songs.In a genre where songs about loving yourself and feeling empowered too often feel throwaway or simplistic, Roberta Lea’s life songs land differently. Her life-affirming celebrations of womanhood and female autonomy are served up with a seriousness and hard-fought joyfulness that comes from fighting for space in a world that wants to do everything in its power to deny it to you.Too much of something isn’t always such a bad thing.Rating: 8 / 10Review By: Jof OwenAnother band hailing from the trusty town of Athens, GA, The Howdies have arrived and are ready to dance into drunken oblivion with their debut LP, Howdies All Around.Inspired by and created for long nights in local bars, Howdies All Around mixes honky tonk, outlaw country and 50s rock n’ roll, pouring it all into a big ol’ tasty cocktail of fun-loving yet thoughtful tunes.Opener ‘Hello, Jukebox’ sets the tone for the record to come, encouraging the ridding of sorrow and heartache, even if only until tomorrow. With writing shared between frontmen Shoni Rancher and Austin Darnell, the record evolves through storytelling country ditties and odes to love, combining each songwriter’s influences.As debuts go, this one’s solid. Catchy tunes that don’t take themselves too seriously with a dive bar spirit and cathartic awareness. What’s not to like?Rating: 7 / 10Review By: Ciara BainsOn Right Up ‘Til Now, Eddy Smith dips his brush into an eclectic range of palettes.We get a sauntering blues-jazz blend with ‘The Ballad Of Bobby Grey’, swinging, toe-tapping soul on ‘Love Sick’ and the Eagles-inspired, country-leaning ‘Something For Free’. The album takes the listener on a vibrant voyage through virtually every sub-genre of the American songbook.Smith’s distinctive rasp introduces an intensity that many can’t tap into. While some would be tempted to overuse this ace, Smith deftly slips it back up his sleeve when the song demands a more drawn-in, tender vocal, epitomised by ‘Ticket Out Of Here’ and unleashed once more on ‘My Time Again’.While less-structured offerings, such as ‘The Good Times’, are certainly more evocative when performed live, Right Up ‘Til Now is nonetheless a swaggering, spell-binding debut from Eddy Smith &amp; The 507.Rating: 7.5 / 10Review By: Maxim MowerThere’s a lot of parts at play here with Red Eye Radio, Jack Browning’s debut album. Perhaps that’s indeed its intention, the record interspersed with distorted voices as if battling with the FM dial while many hours into a midnight run.Although Browning has obviously set out to make a rich-textured record that feels weighty and considered, there are points where he’s also keen to share something more raw and instinctual. That audibly notable difference in production is jarring at times, leaving the record’s overall sonic experience feeling slightly lost in its intention.Nevertheless, Browning delivers these various styles with the maturity and discernment of a songwriter not writing his debut album. The whimsical, spaghetti-western nostalgia that he induces with ‘The Family Guns’ and ‘Blue Eyed Son’ segues seamlessly into the more observant waltz of ‘You Can’t Love Me Anymore’, a&nbsp;song that could easily be an uncovered gem in Vincent Neil Emerson’s growing catalogue.&nbsp;While the acute earnestness of ‘Keroscene’ and ‘Word To The Wise’ may be a bit too on the nose, ‘Dog Tired’ is much more canny and striking - Browning’s lethargic delivery embodying the exhaustion we all have felt in an ever-spinning world. The way it’s followed by the unadulterated blues jam of ‘Ain’t Mean Much to Me’ shows how Browning can confidently flit between musical styles without losing the inherent strength of his songwriting.Red Eye Radio is a promising debut, one that stands Browning in great stead for whichever path he chooses to head down next. It’s no question that’ll be a difficult artistic decision, but Browning evidently possesses the potential to create something even more refined with his sophomore effort.Rating: 7/10Review By: Ross JonesFor more information and dates of all country albums being released in 2023, see below:RELATED CONTENT

By Ross JonesLink copiedWith September waltzing off into the sunset for another year, here at Holler the sweaters are coming out of the cupboard and the pumpkin spiced lattes are being ordered in high demand. With AMERICANAFEST and Pilgrimage just about tying up festival season too, we're chomping at the bit to settle in under a blanket on the sofa and listen to the plethora of albums that are set to be released over the next couple months. It's a good job then that there's some rich, tasty records being released this week that we can delve into. Celebrating what's been another triumphant...

New Country Album Releases This Week | Holler

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS