The Backlog: Early June

Twelve scattered releases from throughout the year. Mostly higher profile, but a couple smaller ones worth paying attention to.

Welcome to the next installment in The Backlog series. This one takes a meandering journey mostly through the mainstream and mainstream aspiring. This isn't to say great indie records aren't coming out. There are plenty. Just for literally zero reason at all, they didn't make it into this installment. For my indie listening readers, be willing to give some of the mainstream stuff a chance. Some is worth it (Pearce and McCreery chief among them) and some isn't (the less said about the current trajectory of Chris Young or Kacey Musgrave’s career the better). And for the mainstream listeners, there are some smaller names you may not know here. Give them a shot. Maybe you'll make a discovery you didn't know about!

A current that connects many of these albums is surprise. I found myself second guessing many of my assumptions when listening to these records. Luke Grimes is not a hack as I had suspected prior to listening to his record. TikTok artists can be genuinely interesting (Julia Degrazia). Carly Pearce can do tasteful pop inflected country with the best of them. It's a good reminder not to let preconceived notions get in the way of trying things.

A reminder of the subgenre numbering system

1- Traditional Country

2- Country Rock

3- Modern Country

4- Pop Country

5- Southern Pop

Enjoy!

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1. Chris Young- Young Love and Saturday Nights

   

• Subgenre: 4, 3

• Tracks: 18

• Time: 55 min. 

Exactly what you'd expect. A now-dated synthetic pop country arrangement fails one of the great voices of this generation. Occasional moments pop through and if you squint, a more mature reflective version of Young narrates. 

Favorite: Getting Older, What She Sees In Me, Fall Out, Fire

Least Favorite: Country Boy's Prayer, Double Down, Drink To Remember, Don't Stop Know, Knee Deep In Neon

2. Kacey Musgraves- Deeper Well

   

• Subgenre: 5, 4 (Boba Tea Country)

• Tracks: 14

• Time: 42 min.

An artist with a capacity to surprise does so in the most boring way possible. Similar to the pop grandeur attempted on Starcrossed, hopefully this scented candle cottagecore pop folk thing will be merely a passing dalliance. She maintains her ability to turn a phrase and create magic out of whole cloth, but does so sparingly here. Which only adds to the overall feeling of frustration. 

Favorite: Anime Eyes, Heaven Is

Least Favorite: Heart On The Woods, Sway

3. Max McNown- Wandering

   

    

• Subgenre: 4, 3 (TikTok country I think)

• Tracks: 13 

• Time: 40 min.

A glimpse of what a post Zach Bryan pop country future may sound like. Shades of Bryan, Corey Kent, and Mumford and Sons meld together into a plaintive and organic pop focused debut project. Intriguing more for commentary on the scene, but a good few stand out songs flash potential. 

Editor note- After multiple listens, the album has really grown on me. I'm overall more positive on the record than I was when I penned the above notes. I still think my initial take on it is valuable so I'm not going to edit it. 

Favorite: Strong As Iron, Worry Bout My Wandering, Dead Set, Dear Evelyn 

Least Favorite: Can't Hide The Light 

4. Ernest- Nashville, Tennessee

   

    

• Subgenre: 1, 2, 3, 4

• Tracks: 26

• Time: 1 hour, 28 min.

A veritable potpourri demonstrating the country music subgenre Overton window, all rendered with usually pleasant organic instrumentation. Think of it as a songwriters business card for Ernest. This album proudly shows that he can compete with the cream of the crop of Nashville songwriters and is flexible and varied enough to deal with any subgenre. Technically impressive with many great individual moments, but unfulfilling from a listener standpoint as you want more cohesion than the loose playlist format provides. 

Favorite: Why Dallas, Ain't As Easy, One More Heartache, How’d We Get Here, Smoking Gun, Slow Dancing In A Burning Room, Creep, Dollar To Cash

Least Favorite: Hanging On, Life Goes On, Redneck S**ttt

5. Drew Moreland- One More Drink

   

• Subgenre: 2, 1, 3 (Texas)

• Tracks: 9

• Time: 35 min.

A small-time Texas guy with the requisite growl and backing rock guitar, Moreland reflects, drinks and brags his way through this short and mixed album. Not so much a statement as a pieced together collection of songs. The slower moments work better. Mixing could use some polishing. Nothing here compares to his singular hit from 2018, God And Cash. 

Favorite: Down In Alabama, Sobriety, Highway Through This Town 

Least Favorite: You Wouldn't Know Country 

6. Shane Smith and The Saints- Norther

   

• Subgenre: 2

• Tracks: 13

• Time: 52 min.

Texas based outfit returns with a cinematic and atmospheric country rock project. Bold and boisterous both in sonic and lyrical presentation. Big topics and stories tackled with intensity, gusto and strong string work. Celtic fiddle mixes with southern rock guitar and Smith’s signature growly vocal work for one of the best projects of the year. 

Favorite: Adeline, Navajo Norther, All The Way, Hummingbird.

Least Favorite: Couldn't think of any.

7. Luke Grimes- Self Titled

   

• Subgenre: 1, 3

• Tracks: 13

• Time: 41 min.

Hmmmm. At first I wrote it off as Dave Cobb encouraged cowboy cosplay. However, Grimes had me sold by the end of the record. It's a shaky product, veering between cliche, pastiche, and genuine emotion, but Cobb does his magic and forms something solid from the amateur-but-developing material dealt to him by Grimes.

Favorite: Ghost Of Who We Were, Oh Ohio, Wait For The Rain To Die Down

Least Favorite: No Horse To Ride

8. Riley Green- Way Out Here

   

    

• Subgenre: 1, 3, 2

• Tracks: 7

• Time: 25 min.

A long awaited and needed advancement of Riley's Greens messaging. Sonically somewhat similar to his 2023 album, and overall leaps and bounds ahead of where he was in 2018. We see that from his second attempt at covering Atlantic City. It still isn't top tier, but the potential is slowly being fulfilled. A pleasant surprise that I return to frequently.

Favorite: Jesus Saves, Atlantic City, Good Morning From Mexico, Worst Way 

Least Favorite: Way Out Here

9. Blanco Brown- Heartaches and Lemonade

   

    

• Subgenre:  4, 5

• Tracks: 4

• Time: 10 min.

An eclectic array of songs meant to showcase the diversity of Brown's taste. Instead it reveals limitations as a vocalist that are misaligned with his taste in arrangements.

Favorite: Energy 

Least Favorite: Sunshine Shine 

10. Julia Degrazia- Life's Been Good Lately

    

• Subgenre: 3, 4

• Tracks: 4

• Time: 12 min.

A new name from TikTok with a savvy and buzzy duet with Evan Honer to her name . Cinematic flair that plays up the material. Arrangements need a lot of polish, but they understand their job and do a more than adequate job matching to the tone and moment. There's a trope to compare any female with a healthy pop country sensibility to Shania Twain, but I do see the comp. Excellent use of detail in the writing and a lot of vocal potential. Husky and clear tone on the low end and an ear for a hook that still maintains the ability to emote. Get her a better producer and she'll cook.

Favorite: Hey Arizona

Least Favorite: Rollercoaster 

11. Scotty McCreery- Rise & Fall

    

     

• Subgenre: 1, 3

• Tracks: 13

• Time: 45 min.

The organic turn in contemporary country opens the window for McCreery to put out his most traditional sounding project yet. The warm tones mesh excellently with his vocals. A Frank Rogers production masterpiece. The thematic content falls squarely into the established wholesome family friendly McCreery niche. Reasonably autobiographical in tone, if not exact detail. Less experimentation leads to a more consistent result than prior projects. Albeit without as intense highs and lows. 

Favorite: Hey Rose, Love Like This, Porch

Least Favorite: Stuck Behind A Tractor 

12. Carly Pearce- hummingbird

    

    • Subgenre: 3, 1, 4

    • Tracks: 14

    • Time: 47 min.

Long awaited record comes as a slight across the board shift from 29. Now focused more on a bluegrass inflected, pop friendly but country forward sound, hummingbird features high level execution with depth and nuance. Soft edges and slight sheen make more palatable a genuinely country album to mass audiences. Coming off of a divorce album, a strong thematic shift might have been expected, but instead the changes feel natural and reflect mature advancement from the now 34-year-old Pearce.

Favorite: things i don't chase, rock paper scissors, oklahoma, trust issues

Least Favorite: truck on fire

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Thanks for reading!

-Joe