Wyatt Flores- Welcome to the Plains
Label: Island
Producer: Beau Bedford
To casual followers of the Americana music scene, it may come as a surprise that Welcome to the Plains marks Wyatt Flores’ first full-length studio album, given the wave of up-and-comer buzz he’s been riding the past few years thanks to a trifecta of acclaimed extended-plays. But yes, this is indeed the main-course after those tantalizing rounds of appetizers, and it is a wholly-realized debut that dutifully lives up to the hype preceding it. First and foremost, let’s talk about Wyatt’s voice. There is such a powerfully raw sense of yearning and emotional passion residing in his vocal tone, and the way in which he utilizes its rugged power to convey an emotion, regardless of whether it requires a yelp or a whisper. I feel like I haven’t been emotionally drawn to a new singer’s voice like this in quite some time. Gloriously so, producer Beau Bedford recognizes the natural and emotive power that rests in his hands, both in terms of Flores’ physical singing and his lyrical storytelling. Bedford marries these qualities with the perfect canvas of rich roots sounds. This album is spilling over with excellent production and musicianship, giving both straight-forward country and Americana lovers alike plenty to devour, with seemingly limitless arrangements of jangly acoustic guitars, luminous fiddles and mandolins, and warm steel guitar showcases. Likewise, rousing backing vocals found throughout, but particularly on moments like “Oh, Susannah” or “Forget Your Voice” are similarly enchanting. Flores’ morbidly positive fascination with mortality and the fragility of time has already been well-established to this point, and it’s only further emphasized through both the excellent album artwork and the thematic narratives at the center of the record. This is a man, and an album, caught between the dichotomous tension between the considerations of a grander world squandering itself in chaos, and the daily blue-collar machinations and demon-battling that plagues settings like the Oklahoma small-town he was raised in. He tackles all of this with an impressive depth, blending emotional intensity and folksy humor along the way. His stylistic tendencies are likewise varied, navigating between lanes of rapturous bluegrass, modern honky tonk, and pensive folk with those of Western noir, anthemic Heartland, and even tinges of garage rock. All of these palates meet in a cohesive mountain-rock center that’s grounded by Flores’ twangy holler and the virtuosic, organic musicianship surrounding him. If there’s any criticism to level against the record (and it’s a minor one), it’s probably that the atmospheric trajectory of the album loses steam a bit in its final stretch. The batch of songs found there is top-notch, but they feel like more straight-forward, intimate one-offs, and a bit removed from the eruptive emotional and sonic waves that make the initial segment of the album so fiery and immediately intoxicating. Minor squabbles aside, this is a tremendous debut effort from a raw and impressive talent who clearly has a lot to say. Cliche as it may sound, Welcome to the Plains feels like the arrival of a burgeoning roots music hero in the vein of the Isbell/Sturgill/Childers/Bryan/Strings subset. If Wyatt Flores can continue to deliver music of the high caliber that he has thus far, he’ll be more than worthy to reside within that lofty Americana company.
Track Listing:
- “Welcome to the Plains” (Wyatt Flores, Ketch Secor)
- “When I Die” (Flores, David DeVaul)
- “Oh, Susannah” (Flores, DeVaul)
- “Only Thing Missing Is You” (Flores, Aaron Raitiere)
- “Don’t Wanna Say Goodnight” (Flores, Gavin Lucas, Brad Clawson)
- “Habits” (Flores, Rose Falcon)
- “Right Here With You” (Flores, DeVaul)
- “The Truth” (Flores, David Hodges, Ricky Manning)
- “Forget Your Voice” (Flores, Nick Bailey, Blake Pendergrass)
- “Angels Over You” (Flores, Beau Bedford, Raitiere)
- “Little Town” (Flores, Jackson Lee Morgan, Jamie McLaughlin)
- “Stillwater” (Flores, Austin Yankunas, Cole Miracle)
- “Falling Sideways” (Flores, Bedford)
- “The Good Ones” (Flores, Bedford, Raitiere)
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