Here are some of the top new releases for the week of 12/08/2019.
All of this week’s new tracks are also on our New Release Round-up playlist on Spotify, along with every other song we’ve included in this feature during the year so far. The playlist is at the bottom of the page – if you’re a Spotify user, give it a follow!
Old Dominion – My Heart Is A Bar
OD have a new album due out in November and they’ve described the song-writing as “raw and vulnerable”. Well, this track certainly delivers on that promise. My Heart Is A Bar is one of those songs where the essentially light and jolly melody subverts the message. It’s a strong piano-led ballad with a very sing-along chorus, and yet the lyrics have such a hurt, weary and hard-bitten cynical edge to them. Someone, please, give Matthew Ramsey a hug!
Midland – Fast Hearts And Slow Towns
New album Let It Roll is only 1 week away from release, but that hasn’t stopped Midland from handing over 1 more track in advance. Fast Hearts And Slow Towns takes the familiar setup of looking back on a time of youthful romance and, to be honest, doesn’t really do a lot with it. It’s a nice, comfortable, mid-tempo nostalgia trip with an Eagles-ish feel to it.
The Highwomen – Highwomen
The Highwayman has has a number of well known recordings over the last 40+ years(yes, 40+ years!), but never one like this. The “supergroup” nominally consisting of Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires and Natalie Hemby takes the Jimmy Webb penned classic and makes it completely their own. Reworking and re-setting the lyrics while still keeping the essential spirit of the song is a remarkable achievement in itself. Adding Yola to the roster is a touch of genius, and Sheryl Crow is in the mix too.
Miranda Lambert – Bluebird
Announcing new album Wildcard for release on 1st November, Miranda also let this track loose. Bluebird ploughs a similar furrow to It All Comes Out In The Wash in that it has the same sense of perseverance and holding on, that “whatever’s happening now, things will be ok in the end” – it just does it a little more reflectively. There’s a clear self-reference in lines like “Don’t like where I’m at, 34 was bad so I just turn to 35” as Lambert’s life moves on a year. Echo effects in the arrangement serve to enhance the reflective mood.
Hunter Hayes – My Song Too
Hayes’ new album Wild Blue Part 1 was released today and it’s born out of much upheaval in Hunter’s life over the last year or so. It’s an album with quite a mix of influences and styles, this is one of the more easily identifiably “country” tracks on the running order. My Song Too comes from the breakup with his long term girlfriend and the emotional aftermath of that. The line, “Mama thinks that I should still be angry, but I can’t find a single thing to hate you for” sums up the sentiment.
Blake Shelton ft Trace Adkins – Hell Right
How do you follow up a monster hit like God’s Country? That’s the challenge facing Blake Shelton and Hell Right is his pick. Shelton reprises his Hillbilly Bone partnership with Trace Adkins, and this song has a similar feel and story telling line – it’s also not a million miles away from Boys ‘Round Here. If Hell Right matches the success of those two hits, Blake will be a very happy man indeed.
Jon Pardi – Tequila Little Time
It’s only right that a song with a shot of tequila in it has this kinda Mexican vibe running through it, and Jon Pardi obliges with this laid back, slow-rollin’ pick-me-up of a track. New album Heartache Medication, due out next month, is shaping up very nicely.
Here’s our New Release Round-up 2019 playlist – enjoy!