New Album Showcase: August 2021

Albums

Rodney Crowell- Triage (RC1)

One of American music’s most eloquent and prolific singer-songwriters returns with yet another chapter in his long-running library of outstanding records. On Triage, the country and folk poet’s seventeenth solo outing, Crowell unleashes another biting, enticing body of songs that grapples with all of the constants that continue to make life so complex: romance, relationships and of course, political and social unrest. His voice has aged like a fine wine, as has his ability to weave his songs through intoxicating melodies and compelling arrangements. Best of all however has proven to be his ability to avoid the common trap many of his peers have succumbed to; he manages to maintain the pointed conviction of his narratives, without ever becoming a bitter curmudgeon. Triage is all-around intelligent, challenging, and musically entertaining, with tracks like “Don’t Leave Me Now”, “Girl on the Street”, “I’m All About Love”, “Something Has to Change” and the title track among the most potent highlights.

Anderson East- Maybe We Never Die (Elektra)

Anderson East’s third major label release finds the revered Americana soul man balancing his well-established collision course of roots rock, country, and R&B with newly chartered waters that expand his palate into realms of trippy psychedelics, flirty funk stylings, shimmering jazz, and electro-pop flourishes. The unflinching compass that continues to ground his musical identity and lend legitimacy to all of this dazzling experimentation remains his gutsy, blue-eyed vocal chops, as evidenced on cuts like the alluring single “Madelyn”, the seductive “Lights On”, and the lush balladry of “Like Nothing Ever Happened” and “If You Really Love Me”.

Halsey- If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power (Capitol)

The fourth album from pop darling Halsey may just prove to be the most left-of-center surprise of 2021. Birthed within the darkest depths and most complicated emotions of her recent pregnancy, she bestows upon the listener a completely unfiltered, naked account of it all without apology. Collaborating with Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from the producer’s chair, she lures you in with the moody, spooky theatrics of opening tracks “The Tradition” and “Belles of Santa Fe”, before ferociously unleashing into an unrelenting fury of alt-rock, grunge and metal influences on the revelatory “Easier Than Lying”. It proves to be a shockingly seamless transformation; what she lacks in pure vocal power is more than compensated for with gritty, growling confidence and grandiose sonic blasts. Sharp, snappy cuts like “Lilith”, “You Asked For This, and “Honey” feel destined to become alt-radio anthems. Most impressive however may be her insertion of the wistful country-folk of “Darling” smack-dab in the middle of all the chaos, without batting an eye. An impressive, potentially career-altering album.

The Killers- Pressure Machine (Island)

If moments like last year’s Imploding the Mirage and the recent Boss-collaboration, “Dustland” have only further exemplified The Killers’ stylistic indebtedness to Bruce Springsteen’s classic E-Street sound, then the band’s newest studio effort is most certainly their Nebraska. A concept collection of quarantine-penned songs that finds lead vocalist Brandon Flowers exploring the identity and small town experiences of his childhood home, Nephi, Utah, it’s unlike anything to be found in the band’s vast catalog. In their most stripped setting, with folky arrangements built around harmonica, fiddle and acoustic guitar, they set the table for a gripping travelogue through small town America, and all the humble yet profound moments and people that define it. All of the dramatic emotion that has defined the band’s career remains in tact, but is displayed through a new, gritty lense that takes their captivating storytelling to brand new heights. The recorded accounts of actual Nephi citizens that serve as the transition between songs adds a tremendous element of captivating intimacy and realism that proves just as essential to the record as the songs themselves. Pressure Machine emerges as an immediate standard in the annals of Heartland Rock.

Maggie Rose- Have a Seat (Starstruck)

Maggie Rose first emerged in Nashville in 2009 as an aspiring country chanteuse, whose considerable talents would unsurprisingly be lost on the minds behind the Music Row machine. Since then, she’s slowly evolved into a palpitating blues-rock dynamo powered by the most soaring blue eyed soul chops this side of Adele. Over a decade later, she has achieved her crowning breakthrough with Have a Seat, a supremely strong set of songs stacked with emotion, smarts, brass and sass. Anthemic displays like “Do It” and the Marcus King feature, “What Makes You Tick” joyously reveal her as a sultry disciple of Dusty Springfield 60s gold, but thoughtful and topical singles like “For Your Consideration”, “Saint”, and “What Are We Fighting For” emphatically illustrate that this is a relevant and important voice for the present moment we’re living in. Have a Seat is a sweltering slice of gorgeous, rapturous soul. It proves to be a stunning summer finale that will resonate long after the leaves have fallen.

Sturgill Simpson- The Ballad of Dood & Juanita (High Top Mountain)

Sturgill Simpson is, without question, the ultimate musical chameleon of his generation. In his brief but sterling career, he’s now navigated through everything from mountain country and honky tonk to Outlaw psychedelia and bluegrass to hard rock and soul. Now with The Dood & Juanita, heavily hinted to be his final solo record, Simpson has delivered an unapologetically Western concept album, the 2021 equivalent of classic works like Red Headed Stranger and Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs. And it should come as no surprise that it’s freaking awesome. Simpson’s booming voice and the Appalachian-tinged backdrop proves to be the perfect setting for the frontier-laden story that unfolds. Like any great story, it runs the gamut of adventure, romance, comedy, friendship, and tragedy. In one fell swoop, Simpson reunites the fabled partners known as country and western, and resurrects all the storytelling magic that the art form was built upon.