Here are some of the top new releases for the week of 29/05/2020.
All of this week’s new tracks are also on our New Release Round-up 2020 playlist on Spotify, along with every other song we’ve included in this feature during the year so far. If you’re a Spotify user, give it a follow so you can keep up to date!
Cam – Redwood Tree
Cam is an artist who is always prepared to explore and experiment with her music, but Redwood Tree sees her on more traditional ground. Using an ancient redwood as an anchor, Cam reflects on the fleeting nature of life and how time can appear to just slip away before we know it…
Midland – Cheatin’ Songs (Acoustic)
Midland have released a new EP, Guitars, Couches, etc, etc, containing acoustic arrangements of some of their best loved songs. Originally featured on the Let It Roll album, this rework of Cheatin’ Songs has a natural, live and unpolished feel with an arrangement that lifts it above the kind of casual strum-thru that acoustic versions can often sound like.
Kip Moore – Grow On You
Kip’s fourth studio album Wild World is released today (May 29th), a 13 song collection that is certain to cement his place in the hearts of his worldwide fan base. Where some of the tracks carry a real emotional weight others such as Grow On You, while no less insightful, have a lighter, brighter touch that give contrast and balance.
Joshua Ray Walker – Boat Show Girl
It’s maybe less common nowadays, but many of us have been to events where pretty ladies (often under-dressed) look to entice passers by, often married men, to buy whatever product they’re selling with a smile, a wink, a playful giggle. With Boat Show Girl, Joshua Ray Walker takes his own childhood memories of Dallas area boat shows and uses them to peer through the facade, beyond the forced smiles and through to the women and the lives behind them. “Freedom ain’t that free, happiness can be cheap | Zero down and less than you spend on cigarettes every week | You can take this beauty home, treat her like you should | Just like every boat show girl wishes that you would”.
Old Dominion – I’m On It
Fans of the Nashville TV series will recognise I’m On It from series 3 of the show, where it was performed by Chris Carmack’s character Will Lexington. Here, Old Dominion give their version of the song they originally recorded for their Meat And Candy album but which didn’t make the cut. They’ve dropped 2 more previously unrecorded songs today (May 29th), if you check your usual streaming platform you’ll see they’ve been added as extra tracks to last year’s eponymous album, taking the track count up to 15.
Jaime Wyatt – Rattlesnake Girl
The follow up to her acclaimed 2017 debut Felony Blues, Jaime Wyatt’s second album Neon Cross, produced by Shooter Jennings, is out today (May 29th). It’s an album full of rare, gritty honesty from an artist who’s neither ashamed of her past nor afraid to communicate her feelings about it. Rattlesnake Girl is a rousing foot-stomper with a defiant edge addressing Jaime’s own journey to discover her sexual identity.
Mike And The Moonpies – Smooth Shot Of Whiskey (featuring Mark Wystrach)
The Moonpies dropped their new album Touch Of You – The Lost Songs Of Gary Stewart this week, their homage to the mid-70’s “king of honky tonk”. Featuring a collection of previously unreleased Stewart songs done in the Moonpies’ distinctive style, Smooth Shot Of Whiskey is a particular highlight not least thanks to the characteristicly drawling vocal contribution of Midland’s Mark Wystrach.
Tim Hicks – See You Soon
With See You Soon, Tim Hicks delivers a bright and bouncy look beyond the current restrictions to a time and place when life is something more like “back to normal” – and that’s a place where we all want to be right now. “It’s gonna get better but I don’t know when | I just know my beard’ll be longer | When that magic moment comes and loneliness ends | We’ll all be a little bit stronger”.
Charley Crokcett – Welcome To Hard Times
The title track for his new album due for release on July 31st, Welcome To Hard Times is a somewhat fatalistic look at life played with a rigged deck and loaded dice. Classic tinkling piano and a gentle mid-tempo beat belie the darker aspects of the song.
Backwoods Creek – On The Line
Some definite Allman Brothers nods in the guitar work on this latest release from London country rock five piece Backwoods Creek, and that’s never a bad thing. With a big power chord driven chorus, it’s no surprise that On The Line has been a big hit in the band’s live show. Until we can all gig again, this will do nicely.
Jillian Jacqueline – Wait For The Light
In a time of so much turmoil, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the present darkness. A hopeful, gospel tinged, piano-led ballad, Wait For The Light looks to bridge the gaps that some might be finding as a result of social distancing measures, holding out a hand to encourage and to endure, together. “It can be so hard | To get through a long night | If you feel lost on your own street | Come and find me and we can wait for the light.”