With her famous surname and the album’s opening shimmering tremolo guitar chords you’d think you were in for a straight country trip. There’s certainly a strong country streak, of the Nikki Lane kind, that runs through Walking Proof, but just as equally there’s an indie rock aesthetic that runs from Liz Phair to Jenny Lewis … Continue reading
Lucinda Williams Good Souls Better Angels Highway 20 / Cooking Vinyl Australia After a year spent looking back with her Car Wheels On A Gravel Road 20th anniversary tour, Lucinda Williams has now turned her mind to the modern world in the here and now, from internal battles of individuals to the heartless idiocy of … Continue reading
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit Reunions Caroline Australia Jason Isbell cemented himself in the pantheon of 21st century songwriters with his Southeastern album in 2013. Since then he’s continued to release strong records but Reunions stands as his most consistent set of songs to date. Sure it might not have the exquisite emotional songwriting … Continue reading
Brandon Dodd What A Way To Die Independent ‘Absolute’, the opening track on Brandon Dodd’s debut solo album sets a high standard with its warmth and intimacy, a wonderful blend of country, folk and heart-on-sleeve soul. The subtlety and restraint in the guitar playing and Dodd’s voice introduce a solo artist who has treaded the … Continue reading
John Moreland LP5 Old Omens/Thirty Tigers John Moreland is a master of melancholy, a chronicler of the downhearted and down on their luck, with his weathered and worn ache of a voice. He has a knack for delivering maximum emotional impact from minimal window dressing in his songs and he’s as much a soul singer … Continue reading
Tami Neilson Chickaboom! Outside Music/Neilson Records On her latest album, Canadian-Kiwi Tami Neilson strips things right back to the core essence of song, rhythm and particularly a spotlight on her exceptional voice. Her focus was to record the songs as they would sound on stage, as performed by a three-piece band – her current preference … Continue reading
Dave Favours & The Roadside Ashes Not Your Average Country Band Stanley Records It’s been six years since Sydney songwriter Dave Favours released his solo album Wet Suburban Sunday, but he’s spent those years building up the roster on his label Stanley Records, releasing the Australian alt-country compilation Take Me To Town and honing the … Continue reading
Fanny Lumsden Fallow Cooking Vinyl Australia Right from the outset of Fanny Lumsden’s third album you sense that something different is in the air – a new maturity and and depth to the music as the lush opening hymnal refrain of ‘Mountain Song’ echoes and reverberates from the speakers. Musically it’s unexplored territory for the songwriter … Continue reading
The Roseline GOOD/GRIEF The Roseline hail from Lawrence, KS and are the band that singer/songwriter Colin Halliburton gathers around his songs in order to fully realise and bring them to life. He’s done just that on GOOD/GRIEF, an album written in response to the death of his best friend (and keyboardist/musical co-conspirator in The Roseline), as well … Continue reading
James Thomson Golden Exile Independent Thomson returns with his third album, and his most accomplished work to date. Golden Exile is a record that will bring to mind the loose rhythms and grooves of The Rolling Stones and the melodic nuance of The Beatles. Throw into the mix that sweet intersection of 70s folk rock … Continue reading
Drive-By Truckers The Unraveling Ato Records by Chris Familton Over nearly quarter of a century, Drive-By Truckers have slowly established themselves as one of the great American bands of modern times. Harnessing the grit and swagger of alt-country and embracing and challenging the notion of being a Southern rock band, Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and … Continue reading
Tracy McNeil & The Goodlife You Be The Lightning Cooking Vinyl Australia Across four albums, Tracy McNeil has woven a wistful strain of Americana that conjures up US West Coast country-rock and Australian East Coast sun-kissed FM pop. You Be The Lightning is her most realised and well executed iteration of that blend to date. … Continue reading
Sturgill Simpson Sound & Fury Elektra Records Sturgill Simpson’s last album, A Sailor’s Guide To Earth was a soulful, expansive and personal welcome-letter to his infant son. It was his first major step away from the traditional worlds of country and alt-country and showed he was someone prepared, and able, to follow his muse and … Continue reading
North Mississippi Allstars Up And Rolling New West Records The new album from Luther and Cody Dickinson’s North Mississippi Allstars was inspired by photos on a forgotten roll of film from the ‘90s. It got the brothers and their fellow musicians back into the studio, along with guests Mavis Staples, Jason Isbell, Cedric Burnside and … Continue reading
Dori Freeman Every Single Star Blue Hens Music The evolution of Dori Freeman continues on this fine third album from the Southwest Virginian songwriter. Her first was rooted in Appalachian folk but since then she’s added studio polish and incorporated wider influences (sixties pop, jazz balladry) and a lush and more nuanced sound. Teddy Thompson … Continue reading
