Nashville country singer-songwriter, Margo Price, continues her streak of great albums with “Strays,” released in January 2023.
I’m not a huge country music fan other than alt-country (think: early Wilco, the Jayhawks or Whiskytown), but I adore Margo Price, with her 2016 debut, “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter,” produced by Jack White’s Third Man Records, being my favorite of that year, so I had high hopes for “Strays.”
Joined by her husband and co-songwriter Jeremy Ivey, Margo went on a (very potent) mushroom trip in the desert and came out with what was less a traditional country album and more an alt-country album. Her voice infuses the songs with Americana, but the album really isn’t.
It’s actually hard to categorize.
The epic six-minute “Country Road” is piano and pedal steel driven, with such vivid storytelling and emotionally resonant themes it harkens back to her earlier work, taking the classic country tradition while infusing it with a contemporary edge. (“I’ve got this joint. Let’s go get high. And shoot a little dice. I’ll pour some gin, you can buy me in, Oh, wouldn’t that be nicе?“) The six minutes disappear before you know it, and it’s one of her finest songs.
From the album’s start, the banger “Right to the Mountain,” her voice is rich and expressive, bringing a blend of vulnerability and strength.
“I’ve been on food stamps. I’ve been out of my mind. I rolled in dirty dollars, stood in the welfare line. I’ve been a number. I’ve been under attack. I have been to the mountain and back. Alright. Alright.“
Things move into new-wave/indie territory with “Radio,” where Sharon von Etten sings along, which is just fantastic.
“People try to push me around. Change my face and change my sound. I can’t hear them. I tuned them out. And I turned them way down low. The only thing I have on is the radio.”
The Grammy Award-winning artist’s best songs are the ones with her best lyrics (and I love that last quoted line from “Radio“…. the only thing I have on is the radio…”). Other guests include former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell, who plays guitar on “Light Me Up,” and Lucius on backing vocals on “Anytime You Call.”
Price’s rootsy “Change of Heart” is all about release. Don’t come running to me (“You’re gonna wake up older, with a hole in your pocket and a blade in your shoulder. Well, if you break both your legs, oh, don’t come runnin’ to me.“)
She’s just basically pissed, and the song is about letting go of her anger, but then… resignation. (“Get down to the end of the line. And it all fell apart. I quit tryin’ to change the past. I had a change of heart, oh. I had a, I had a, I had a……“) And that’s it. That’s just… it.
Her troubled, lost love song, “Time Machine,” is a lovely, poppy ditty, with 70’s California sound producer Jonathan Wilson (Angel Olsen, Father John Misty) who keeps the entire album, I’m be honest from verging into a Fleetwood Mac cover.
With primarily, “Lydia,” I applaud her for mostly ending the album with such a dark tone.
“Lydia” is just her, with an acoustic guitar and strings.
It’s a lyrically great song, probably one of Margo’s best, about a woman seeking an abortion, unable to raise a baby in the U.S. without health insurance, even more pointed now by the recent overturning of Roe vs. Wade.
Heartbreaking is not even the first word (though it was recorded before the overturning.)
“Just put out the cigarette. Just make a decision, Lydia, just make a decision.
It’s yours.“
I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Whether mushrooms are needed or not.
9.0/10
Chris Garrod, June 30, 2023
