Here are some of the top new Country and Americana releases for the week of 12/06/2020.
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!
Margo Price – Letting Me Down
After COVID-19 obliged Margo to put her new album on hold, we’ve been waiting patiently for a revised release date. Finally, we now know that That’s How Rumors Get Started is slated for July 10th, so not much longer to wait now. Letting Me Down is the latest track to be dropped ahead of the release. To these ears, there’s a very E-Street Band kind of thing going on. Listen carefully, and you’ll hear producer Sturgill Simpson pitching in with some growling BV’s too…
Zac Brown Band – The Man Who Loves You The Most
For many ZBB fans, The Man Who Loves You The Most will be a very welcome turn-around from last year’s controversial album The Owl and back in the direction of the band they originally came to know and love. Whether this release heralds a full scale return to their classic sound remains to be seen, but for now this touching father-to-daughter song will no doubt do very nicely.
John Prine – I Remember Everything
There’s no way he would have known it at the time, but I Remember Everything is the final song recorded by John Prine before his untimely passing in April this year. It’s hard to imagine a more fitting epitaph. Just listen for yourself.
Miranda Lambert – Bluebird (Acoustic)
With Bluebird currently giving Miranda her first solo Top 10 single since 2014, this acoustic release of the track is certainly timely. Shorn of any studio tricks and ticks, the stripped back version really delivers.
Kyle Nix – Shelby ’65
With the Turnpike Troubadours on indefinite hiaitus, it was something of a suprise to find Kyle Nix releasing a solo album. With the knowledge that Nix’s backing band on the project is basically the rest of the Troubadours, minus Evan Felker, well that just ramps up the excitement. Nix is known as the band’s fiddle player and has never sung lead on any Troubadour songs, but he certainly sounds pretty good to us. The album, Lightning on the Mountain and Other Short Stories, is out on June 26th.
Lori McKenna – Good Fight
Written with her “Love Junkies” partners Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey, Good Fight has that classic Laurel Canyon singer songwriter sound. Pushing through hard times in relationships is at the core of the song. Lori’s upcoming album The Balladeer, out on July 24th, is shaping up very nicely indeed.
Mary Chapin Carpenter – Between The Dirt And The Stars
Recorded live in the UK at Real World Studios, The Dirt And The Stars will be Mary Chapin Carpenter’s 16th studio album spanning a career that’s so far covered over 30 years and shows no sign of slowing down yet. Between The Dirt and The Stars is the lead-off track from the album and looks back at life, reflecting that whoever we are, whatever our wins and losses, all of life is lived “between the dirt and the stars”. “Years will pass before we turn to face the place where we come from | Years will pass before we learn what time denies to everyone | If we’re lucky ghosts and prayers are company, not enemies.”
The Cactus Blossoms – Happy Man
The Cactus Blossoms’ album Easy Way was one of our favourites of 2019, with classic sounds and styles augmented by Page Burkum and Jack Torrey’s “blood harmony” arrangements, echoing peak-era Everly Brothers without being slavishly tied to that period. No news of a new album yet, but we do have a new single. Happy Man has all the hallmarks of the Minneapolis brother’s previous recordings, with an uncluttered arrangement that has shades of Norman Petty’s work with Buddy Holly.