New Album Review: Margo Price- Strays

Margo Price- Strays

Label: Loma Vista

Producer: Jonathan Wilson

Over the course of her first three outstanding records, Margo Price has evolved from a 60s Loretta Lynn honky-tonk disciple to a country-rock maverick in the realm of 70s Emmylou Harris, all culminating in the release of Strays, which seems to find Price finally fulfilling her destiny as her generation’s answer to a roots-rock badass like Lucinda Williams, which tracks well given that Williams’ own lineage can be traced directly back through Harris and Lynn. But for as much as she pulls influence from each of those fabulous icons, Price’s biggest similarities to those artists lie in the fact that she is 100% honestly and authentically her own unique self. And as aggressively as her sound has morphed, so too has the raw and unflinching nature with which she sings and writes her songs (many of them co-written with husband and Americana favorite Jeremy Ivey). Nothing proclaims this more emphatically than opening track, “Been to the Mountain”, which launches the record with a deafening intensity that practically transforms into a full-on punk anthem by the second verse. It sets a tremendous tone for the rest of the LP, grabbing you by the collar and demanding your attention as Price prepares once again to lay all of her life trials and tribulations on naked display. She and her band set further fire to your speakers with this tantalizing sound through high-water marks like “Change of Heart”, the Stones/E-Street leaning Heartland of “Time Machine”, and superb collaborations with Sharon Van Etten (“Radio”), Lucius (“Anytime You Call”), and Mike Campbell (“Light Me Up”). But as much as Price uses this album to further prove that she can command a big rock presence, she thankfully remembers the power residing within the tender side of her twang, which she first blessed us with back on “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)”. This gift is showcased as powerfully as it’s ever been on sensitive portraits like “Lydia” and “Landfill”, but never more glowingly than on the chilling “County Road”, a staggering elegy for her late drummer, Ben Eyestone. Strays is a gorgeously vibrant and complicated artistic statement from Margo Price, and another gripping entry in one of the most exciting musical catalogs today, not to mention the first surefire classic of 2023.

Track Listing:

1. “Been to the Mountain” (Margo Price, Jeremy Ivey)
2. “Light Me Up” featuring Mike Campbell (Price, Ivey)
3. “Radio” featuring Sharon Van Etten (Price, Sharon Van Etten)
4. “Change of Heart” (Price, Ivey)
5. “County Road” (Price, Ivey)
6. “Time Machine” (Dillon Napier, Christopher Houston Denny)
7. “Hell in the Heartland” (Price, Lawrence Rothman)
8. “Anytime You Call” featuring Lucius (Ivey)
9. “Lydia” (Price)
10. “Landfille” (Price, Ivey)