Tag Archives: #AlbumsoftheYear

Music, Music Review

Comm. Failure’s Top 15 Albums of 2023

Ok, it’s early April 2024 and I should have posted this three months ago, but well, procrastination is now high on my list of adversities. 😉

But I need to do this to start posting about 2024!!

15. Wilco: Cousin

“It’s good to be alive. It’s good to know we die. It’s good to know.” Jeff Tweedy sings at the end of their first track, Infinite Surprise from “Cousin,” over a cacophony of what sounds like horns, violins, tin foil… God knows, but it works. Thanks to Cate le Bon, who Jeff Tweedy & Co. have used for what I think is Wilco’s best album since “Sky Blue Sky.” 13 albums in, and after last year’s very country “Cruel Country,” this is a weird change. But it isn’t. Because despite Le Bon’s production, this is still very Wilco, pick your period, Wilco. It is weird Wilco at times, and it is ordinary Wilco at their very best. No matter what, “Cousin” is great Wilco.

“I’ve always been afraid to sing. That’s a little thing. Somehow, that’s all I do.” Tweedy quietly sings in lovely Pittsburgh. At 56, I do so hope he continues.

14: RAYE: My 21st Century Blues

RAYE jumped out of the blue, “My 21st Century Blues” being her debut album. She starts with the intention: “All the white men CEOs, fuck your privilege” on Hard Out Here, and from here on, this is great, empowering stuff, which is hard not to like. Black Mascara and her UK #1 hit, Escapcism, follow suit, and it’s hard, despite challenging tracks like Mary Jane about substance abuse… 

This is all catchy, soulful music, and while she exhales, “I’ve waited seven years for this moment,” on the outro, Fin…

I want more.

13: Sufjan Stevens: Javelin

“Javelin” comes as a spiritual survivor to my favorite album of 2015 – “Carrie and Lowell” – written by Sufjan Stevens following the death of his mother. Now, with “Javelin,” we have from its creator, who revealed he was recovering from an autoimmune condition while recording it (Guillain-Barré Syndrome).  

He also lost a lover. So You Are Tired displays the mess and the complications of being in a relationship. It is brutal. “So you are tired of me, so rest your head, Turning back all that we had in our life while I return to death.“

To say it explores grief and loss is an understatement. It isn’t the easiest of listens, but it is beautiful and emotional. He appropriately finishes with a lovely cover of Neil Young’s There’s a World. It has made me love the original (from “Harvest Moon“) even more. That alone is an achievement.

12: Grouplove: I Want it All Right Now

Sunny, sunshine, fuzzy alternative pop from the San Fransico outfit – their sixth. They don’t take themselves seriously other than wanting to please their fan base, which isn’t a bad thing.

A lot of that comes from the leads, Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi, who share vocals and are married. It’s very 1990s alternative pop/rock (I’ve seen many comparisons to The Pixies, The Breeders, and The Flaming Lips).

But it’s fun, and this album didn’t disappoint me. Not one bit.

11: Depeche Mode: Memento Mori

It’s both horrible and strangely incredible. The death of Andy Fletcher in May 2022 – I thought – was the end of Depeche Mode, one of the bands I grew up with and love so dearly. But after 2017’s “Spirit,” Dave Gahan and Martin L Gore decided to continue, which is an album that has death poured over it, though funnily, it works out to be one of their most uplifting albums in… a decade. 

They both sound great. The songs are all good, particularly standout tracks like Ghosts Again, My Favourite Stranger, and Wagging Tongue. The final track, Speak to Me, is a killer, with the lyrics “I will disappoint you. I will let you down. I need to know you’re here with me. Turn it all around.“

They miss Fletch. That’s apparent throughout the album, which is a testament to him. “Time is fleeting,” Dave sings in Ghosts Again. 

It can also be moving, and this proves it.

10. Belle and Sebastian: Late Developers

I didn’t expect to like this album as much as I did. At all.  

Glaswegian band Belle and Sebastian have also been in my category of “nice to listen to” but not “essential to listen to” (blasphemy, I know). But there is something about this album.

When We Were Very Young has the chorus, “I wish I could be content with the football scores. I wish I could be content with my daily chores. With my daily worship… of the sublime.”

It’s all so thoughtfully poppy; I guess that is a trademark of the band –  twee pop nostalgia and innocence are nearly omnipresent in their discography.

“Late Developers” is a solid set of classic Belle and Sebastian-style tunes that highlights the group’s take on modern indie styles – while not glossing over what made them so charming in their heyday.

9. Margo Price – “Strays II”

Nashville-based Margo Price displays her finest country music at its core with “Strays II“. Full stop.

I would have been happy with “Strays,” but she re-released the album in October 2013 with nine extra tracks, including the rockier Strays.

As it goes, Price and her husband (Jeremy Ivey) went to a South Carolina beach in the summer and took a six-day mushroom-filled trip looking for insights and inspirations. She also tee-totalled. The result is really great.

Whenever I listen to Margo, I think “She knows what she is doing.” Her voice is rich and expressive, bringing a blend of vulnerability and strength.

If you’re not listening to Margo Price, you’re missing out.

8: Blondshell: Blondshell

Blondshell’s self-titled 2023 debut will check all of your indie-rock pleasures.

New York-born and raised Sabrina Teitelbaum, now known as “Blondshell“. And her 2023 debut as Blondshell is fucking fantastic if you like this sort of genre (coming from someone who likes all genres!)

It is only over 33 minutes and to the point. I like albums like that.

This sounds very, very 90’s alternative rock. Grungy. Hints of Hole, Smashing Pumpkins, and Alanis Morrisette abound. She’s said in an interview: “Typically, women are given permission to be sad, but there’s a lot of shame that gets attached to expressing anger. And as a combination of that cultural thing and my own personal hang-ups, I had never felt in touch with that side of myself. Unknowingly, I got in touch with that rage through the music. Just having said all these things it was like, it’s all on the table now: I feel lighter.”

It comes across so well – it’s an interesting listen and, in the end, one I found to be really enjoyable.

7. Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS

This album is so entertaining to listen to that I struggled with where to put it on this list. Olivia Rodrigo’s “SOUR” was so well-done and popular, winning awards all over the place in 2021, blah, blah, blah.

“GUTS” very much stands on its own. Rodrigo is a great singer songwriter and pulls no punches on her second installment.

Life can be crap. Life is crap? There is a whole range of emotions throughout this album which she plays and sings in such a great style.

“I hate all my clothes. Feels like my skin doesn’t fit over my bones. So I guess I should go, the party’s done, and I’m no fun I know, I know” she sings in Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl, admitting in the end “Thought your mom was your wife. Called you the wrong name twice. Can’t think of a third line.“

“GUTS” is glorious, ambitious and at times made me feel like I was in my twenties again.

6. First Aid Kit: Palomino Deluxe (Child of Summer Edition)

I’ll admit I’m cheating a bit, as this album was officially released in late-2022 but re-released (and I discovered) in 2023.

But, it’s lovely. The Swedish sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg sing amazing folk-pop tunes, with a sprinkle of Fleetwood Mac.

This album isn’t downbeat at all, despite a five-year hiatus post-pandemic break from their previous album, “Ruins.” 

As I said when I first reviewed it: Angel is perhaps one of the album’s best and most moving tracks, especially for those with anxiety issues. With lyrics: “So, give me love and give me compassion. Self-forgiveness and give me some passion. I’ll love you even if you don’t love me. I’ll love you, oh, can’t you see you’re free? Oh, angel, can’t you see you’re free?“

They are brilliant, and this is a move away from their Americana beginnings into, hopefully, something completely different. I cannot wait to hear.

5. Foo Fighters: But Here We Are

Do I really have to say why Foo Fighters are in my Top 5?

Dave Grohl is brilliant, trying to overcome the death in 2022 of their drummer, Taylor Hawkins, to make this album.

It’s fantastic – cruelly, magnificently fantastic. 

“Someone said I’ll never see your face again. Part of me just can’t believe it’s true. Pictures of us sharing songs and cigarettes. This is how I’ll always picture you.” from the album’s catchy second track, Under You.

Grohl resumes drumming duties for this album full of non-fillers: it is alternative, stadium rock at its finest. Having to get over grief is an uphill battle, and this album shows that while it can be difficult and cathartic, it is needed. As stated in Nothin’ At All,  “Lately, I know It’s everythin’ or nothin’ at all.“

4: U.S. Girls: Bless This Mess

Meghan Remy’s 8th studio album, under her moniker, U.S. Girls – “Bless This Mess”, can be a mess, but she pulled off.

It is a bit of a mess at times – deliberately so? The funky as hell opener Only Daedalus is a great example. And my favorite other tracks, Tux (Your Body Fills Me, Boo) and So Typically carry that vibe.

No matter the mess, it’s an extremely interesting, fun but above all entertaining album to listen to – I cannot wait to see what she pulls off next.

3: boygenius: the record

This record is just damn good. The combination of these three so talented artists jells so well.

Not much to say but if you like any of them, please listen to this album.

Well, just listen to it anyway. It came out early in the year and I’m still listening to it in early 2024. My standout tracks are: $20, Emily I’m Sorry, Not Strong Enough and Satanist.

2: Caroline Polachek: Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

I didn’t expect to like this album so much but oh Lord, I did.

Caroline. Thank you.

It gets categorized as “art pop” but it’s really indie pop, in my opinion.

“Hope you like me. You ain’t leaving.” she sings on the opener Welcome to My Island, which is a track I kind of think… if you like it, listen to the rest. If you don’t, then the rest may be a tough listen. It’s a great litmus opener start.

At one point, this was my album of the year with fabulous tracks like Bunny is a Rider, I Believe, and Billions. Until the next one.

1: Romy: Mid Air

She leaped out of the blue. I tried to see Tegan & Sara in Pittsburgh, but it was canceled at the last minute. So, I had a few days in Pittsburgh with my Apple Music and Spotify algorithms going into overdrive.

Up popped Romy, a member of the xx, who I had seen live in New York just after the release of their debut album. This is pure EDM and completely blissful. It doesn’t wear out. It’s welcome; something I’m always on the lookout for! But all of the songs are so catchy and blend so well. 

This was easily my favorite album of the year.

Chris Garrod, early April, 2024

Music, Music Review

Review: Olivia Rodrigo’s “GUTS” is a Journey Through the Complexities of Fame and Growth.

I’ll start: God, this album is fun and good. “I know my age, and I act like it,” she sings on the opener, “all-american bitch.” 

Produced by Dan Nigro, the album is a collection of 12 tracks that weave together the narrative of a young artist grappling with the complexities of fame, love, and self-identity.

She is now just twenty-years-old, and GUTS follows her debut SOUR, which won Best Pop Vocal Album of the Year at the 64th Grammy’s in 2022 and was nominated for Album of the Year. She also won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2022.

GUTS

So there is the psychology of the “difficult second album” worry. After winning so many awards with SOUR, could Rodrigo cope? There’s the expectation, the fear of self-destruct.

GUTS has been nominated for the same two categories two years later at the 66th Grammy’s in February 2024: Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year.

Well, let’s brush away those “difficult second album” worries!

The songs

“Bad idea right?“… listening to Rodrigo talk about her ex, with fun, layered vocals and humorous lyrics… “Seeing you tonight. It’s a bad idea, right? Seeing you tonight. 

(Fuck it, it’s fine.)”

Her lead single, “vampire” starts: “I used to think I was smart. But you made me look so naïve… Bloodsucker, fame fucker. Bleedin’ me dry like a goddamn vampire.”

I won’t mention every song here, but I have to mention “get him back!“, which is a revenge psycho anthem that suits the albums tone. With a lyric like “So I write him all these letters, and I throw them in the thrash, ‘Cause I miss the way he kisses and the way he may me laugh,” devolving into “I wanna meet to his mom … Just to tell her son sucks.” Well, there is a sense of humor there. And I appreciate it!

The kind-of Curish-sounding “pretty isn’t pretty” is one of the best-sounding tracks on the album, with its late 80s new wave-style chords and lyrics: “And I bought all the clothes that they told me to buy. I chased some ideal my whole fucking life. And none of it matters, and none of it ends. You just feel like shit over and over again.“

The Vogue. Emporio Armani dress.

It ends with the gorgeous piano piece, “teenage dream” which is a flipside to the first song’s confidence: “When will I stop being great for my age and just start being good?” ending with what I can only imagine will be iPhone light waving lyric anthem at some point in a stadium somewhere at some point in her career: 

“Yeah, they all say that it gets better, it gets better, but what if I don’t? They all say that it gets better, it gets better, the more you grow…. but what if I don’t?“

Rating

Each track in GUTS encapsulates a different aspect of Rodrigo’s journey, from dealing with fame and heartbreak to navigating personal insecurities and growth. This diversity makes GUTS a resonant and impactful album, showcasing Rodrigo’s evolution as an artist. It’s an album which in my view at least, outshines SOUR.

It’s so entertaining to listen to – I thoughouhly recommend it.

9.0/10

Chris Garrod, December 2, 2023

Music, Music Review

Review: Sparklehorse and the Tragic Beauty of Mark Linkous and 2023’s “Bird Machine”

Sparklehorse – which I can’t think of really being anything other than Virginia native Mark Linkous – has, in the fall of 2023, released his last, and maybe most remarkable album, “Bird Machine.”

I remember buying out of the blue and listening to his debut: “Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot,” as a solicitor training in London. It brings back lots of late 1995 memories. It was also an incredible album.

I love the way – when describing Spaklehorse – AllMusic states: “The project of Mark Linkous, Sparklehorse’s noisy rock, pastoral folk, psychedelic pop, and gently devastating ballads were always grounded in empathy.” Noisy rock, folk, psychedelic pop, ballads… grounded in empathy. That is one big stew.

Linkous recorded four albums before his death. In 2010, on Saturday, 6 March, in Knoxville, Tennessee, he took his own life with a shotgun, shooting himself in the heart in an alley outside a friend’s home. He was only 47.

He had a lot of personal struggles, to say the least.

Before that, after “Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot” became somewhat heralded in the indie circuit, Linkous experienced a life-altering incident while on tour with Radiohead in 1996. After ingesting a mix of Valium and antidepressants, he passed out in the bathroom of his hotel room in London with his legs pinned beneath him. He remained in that position for almost 14 hours, which cut off circulation to his legs. The lack of blood flow caused him to go into cardiac arrest when the paramedics attempted to straighten his legs. 

He technically died for a couple of minutes but was revived by the emergency medical team.

This incident led to a grueling series of surgeries for Linkous. He had to undergo multiple operations to save his legs from amputation, and during this period, he used a wheelchair for six months. Despite the severity of the incident, he managed to recover to the point of walking again, although with difficulty. Sparklehorse’s second LP, “Good Morning Spider,” was released around this time, and Linkous would perform in a wheelchair.

He released two further albums, “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain” (Danger Mouse and Linkous’ collaboration, “Dark Night of the Soul” came out soon after Linkous took his own life in 2010… but it doesn’t feel like a real Sparklehorse album.)

Now we’re in late 2023, and thirteen years following Mark Linkous shooting himself to death, we have “Bird Machine.“

This post took me a while to write.

His family was left behind what was an almost complete “Bird Machine” before Linkous took his own life. It was to be Sparklehorse’s fifth album. Linkous had even kept handwritten notes featuring Bird Machine’s title and tracklist. He had begun working on it with producer Steve Albini.

So it was left to his family – his brother Matt and sister-in-law Melissa – to help complete the project in early 2023 (plus nephew Spencer, who provided additional vocals.)

Verdict: it’s great.

I think Linkous would have adored this album – this is Sparklehorse at its finest, primarily low beat, often fuzzy, spacey noise-pop, but with sprinklings of beauty such as “Evening Star Supercharger.“

It can be like the first track, “It Will Never Stop,” which is about as noisy as he gets (on first listen, someone else asked me, “Is this music?!”). But the album will move on to the simple, acoustic beauty of “Falling Down.” and its haunting lyrics, “I Keep on falling down. To be found by the plow. Years from now. Keep on falling down.“

The most heartbreaking song is “Stay,” the closer, with its simple lyrics: “Stay today. Stay for the day. Oh, it’s gonna get brighter. Stay for the day.”

Matt Linkous ultimately said of the project: “It means so much to me, this last batch of beautiful stuff that my brother was putting together. When I sit down and put on a pair of headphones, I’ll run it all the way through. Everything from ‘It Will Never Stop’ to ‘Evening Star Supercharger’ to ‘Stay’, that’s Mark just letting it out.”   

As one of the song titles suggests, Linkous “Fucked it up real Good.” Because he took his own life, and I wish Mark Linkous was still here.

But I’m so glad to finally get “Bird Machine.“

9/10

Chris Garrod, November 18, 2023

PS: Do buy/rent but watch the 2022 documentary “This is Sparklehorse” if you can…

Music, Music Review

Review: The xx’s Romy has made “Mid Air” the best EDM album of 2023 and, possibly in doing so, the best album of 2023.

Romy Madley Croft, 34, is the lead singer and guitarist of The xx, but it took me a few listens to this glorious solo debut, “Mid Air,” to realize that – but it doesn’t matter. 

She’s come out (of the closet), but she comes out as one helluva amazing dance and club artist on this album.

She’s introspective and extroverted. The beautiful piano-based opener, “Loveher,” has lines like: “Hold my hand under the table. It’s not that I’m not proud in the company of strangers. It’s just some things are for us.” And then: 

“Lover, you know, when they ask me, I’ll tell them. Won’t be ashamed, no, I can’t wait to tell them.”

It’s gorgeously crafted over a pumping, electronic bass line and lays down the marker of this, oh, so very much being a club album. Madley Croft has described it as a “celebration, sanctuary and salvation” of the queer clubs and dance floors that made her champion a sound she calls “emotional music to dance to.”  

The whole theme of this album is emotional dance music. The inner label of the pink vinyl copy of the LP, which I was able to nab while on a week’s visit to London recently, states boldly:

“ARE YOU EMOTIONAL? DO YOU WANT TO DANCE?“

Following the opener, the juices flow – and flow. “Weightless,” – co-produced by Madonna collaborator Stuart Price (see “Confessions on the Dance Floor“), follows with her singing with a growing, growing groove: “And I didn’t believe I deserved to feel this high up above the ground. And when she looks at me, I hide how I feel.“

But I think that she’s figured it out.“

She takes an emotional turn with a track like “The Sea,” co-written by Fred Again.., with Ibiza vibes swirling all around, as she laments about a lost love she fell in love with by the sea, who didn’t return the same feelings. “She says “Don’t play that game with my heart and don’t say it’s love if it’s not.””

On one of the album’s highlights – its lead single from November 2022, “Stong,” she co-produces with Fred Again.. (and Stuart Price), and here, the album… really takes off. 

“You don’t have to be so strong,” she pleads… “Let me be someone

You can lean on. 

I’m right here.”

This is all sung into a fantastic club beat; it takes you back to the mantra of this album: “Are you feeling emotional? Do you want to dance?“

So, at this point, we have two tracks following, “Twice” and “Did I” which played together sound like one uplifting roar of the danceable. It takes a few listens to appreciate, but I honestly am at the point where I need to put this album on shuffle because I’m so used to it. These two tracks show that. First, the gradual rise of “Twice”…

“Who am I to deny
The shivers running down my spine
And how I’m dying inside
Every time we say goodnight?“

Then, “Did I“?

“Did I do what I’ve always done?
Leave the room with the fire on
Did I, did I, did I?“

The very soon-to-follow “Enjoy Your Life” makes this album.

Romy: “When I heard the line, “My mother says to me enjoy your life” by Beverly Glenn-Copeland, I was speechless. Those few words felt like the most simple and disarming sentence. Ever since I was 11, I’ve been aware of and drawn to the phrase, life is short. I’ve felt inspired by people who I’ve seen react to this by trying to see the positives in life, even when things are going wrong and times are hard.“

I wish I could say the song is an incredible club anthem, but that leaves incredibleness with a bad taste in my mouth. This will be my song of 2023.

If you don’t like this song, I’m sorry.

She swings back into introversion with lyrics like: “Ooh, somebody tell me why.
I’m scared to close my eyes. And I’m too afraid to watch the news.”

But then, an opening: “Ooh, dancing on my own again. Anxiety, my old friend. Since why would you try somethin’ new?“

And then: “I made a promise to my mother. To stop runnin’ from my problems. “Oh, now,” she said to me,

“Enjoy your life“

It becomes an amazing, uplifting, and incredible song for anyone to dance to. Whether you are a Baby Boomer, Generation X, Y, or Alpha, it doesn’t matter. Just dance and love life.

We finish with the lovely, three-minute “She’s On My Mind“, which is simply, a turnaround from the opener “Loverher“, with lyrics such as: “My mind just can’t explain it. No, I can’t find the words. But I don’t care anymore. Think I’m in love. With her.”

She doesn’t care anymore. No more worried about holding hands under the table. “I don’t care anymore.“

Don’t care anymore.”

The album is then done.

Romy Madley Croft, after The xx’s other members, has finally produced her own debut album, and the result is superb.

9.75/10

Chris Garrod, October 2nd, 2023

Music, Music Review

Review: Caroline Polachek’s ear-opening “Desire, I Want to Turn Into You” is a 2023 indie pop music must-listen.

I love it when I come across an artist I’ve never heard of before and then think, “This is incredible: why?!”

Enter New York City’s Caroline Polachek, whose first album, 2019’s “Pang,” should have been in my collection. (A single from it, “So Hot Your’e Hurting My Feelings,” has almost 90 million listens on Spotify). What was I doing in 2019 to miss it?!!

Her new album, released in February 2023, “Desire, I Want to Turn Into You,” has become one of my favorites so far this year. Let’s start by disclaiming that its lead single, “Bunny Is A Rider,” was Pitchfork’s #1 song of 2021 (yes, I missed that somehow, too.) 

She describes it as “a spicy little summer song about being unavailable,” and with its “whoo-hoos” and whistles and the way it clicks along, it can be a contender for a song of this Summer of 2023.

The opener, and one the best on the album, is the electronic “Welcome To My Island,” where she starts singing after an epic opening wail: “Welcome to my island, see the palm trees wave in the wind. Welcome to my island. Hope you like me, you ain’t leavin’…” It’s fresh, fun, catchy, and contains the inclusion of her trying to play guitar at around 3:10 into the song (she can’t… so the guitar solo is marvelously “dogshit” – her words.) 

Once off the Island, Polachek says how the next track, the Balearic, trip-hoppy “Pretty in Possible,” as being the song she is “most proud of” from the album. It was born from a “cool experiment where Danny [Danny L Harle, her co-writer and producer] and I were like, “OK, let’s write a song that has no verses or choruses – where you just enter the song and flow.” 

“Sunset” is a lovely Flamenco pop song (OK, with this and “Bunny is a Rider,” it’s hard to say what will be played the most around the poolside this summer). “So no regrets, ‘Cause you’re my sunset, fiery red. Forever fearless. And in your arms, a warm horizon. Don’t look back. Let’s ride away, let’s ride away.” It’s the most traditional-sounding song on the album, but that isn’t a knock against it.

And then, everything after is pure art pop bliss. But, so very accessible, your head turns… well, spins.

“Look over the edge, but not too far,” she says at the start and end of the beat-heavy, groovy “I Believe.” The last single from the album “Blood and Butter” carries trippy 1990s electronica harmonies with lyrics, “Let me dive through your face, to the sweetest kind of pain. Call you up. Nothin’ to say. No, I don’t need no entertaining.” You’ll listen to it, love it and then, towards the end, love it even more when the bagpipes kick in. 

Yes. Bagpipes. It’s fantastic.

The final track, “Billions,” is haunting, with a reversed beat, creating an elegant dreamish backdrop for Caroline to sing in.

As Caroline said to The New Yorker in September 2021:

“One day, Harle sent her a beat that he’d written, and Polachek heard a melody out of nowhere, oceanic and potent, and started jotting down psychedelic images: a headless angel, an overflowing cup, a pearl inside an oyster. The beat and the images became the song “Billions.” She told me, “I wanted something that captured the afterglow of a reopening.“

It is a gorgeous song to finish the album, with a lovely choir to end the album: “Oh, I’ve never felt so close to you, I’ve never felt so close to you.”

“Desire, I Want To Turn Into You” is an impressive, fascinating, but more importantly, enjoyable listen. Caroline Polachek’s island isn’t one I will rush to leave any time soon. 

8.5/10

Chris Garrod, July 8, 2023

Music, Music Review

Review: Margo Price stays on track with “Strays”

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