Week of 03/15/2024
The Architect // Kacey Musgraves Written By Brandon Iozzo
With six albums under her belt following the release of Deeper Well, Kacey Musgraves is no stranger to expressing her internal conflict honestly, sharing little reflections on her current season of life. “The Architect” is one of the album’s poetic highlights that has Musgraves questioning a higher power over the state of her surroundings, but more importantly, paralleling the growth and hardships that she has overcome personally. Co-written by longtime collaborators Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, and Kacey herself, the country-folk track is designed as an airy, acoustic lullaby with plucking strings that carry a similar sonic production to Kesha’s “Godzilla.” There’s an initial “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” feel with “The Architect” that ends with Kacey emanating wisdom and maturity through its lyrics as she questions her own life. Though we’ve seen artists ask “Why?” when it comes to life’s ups and downs, Musgraves creates a similar notion from a refreshing, winsome perspective.
8.6
funny girl // RaeLynn Written By Brandon Iozzo
In an ode to her younger self and perhaps her female audience, RaeLynn looks back to appreciate a past version of herself who likely needed a little more self-love in “funny girl.” Written by Lauren Hungate and Racheal Davis, the double-entendre-laden ballad showers love on a younger version of RaeLynn going through the motions of growing up, fitting in, and finding a circle of friends in a confusing and fast-paced adolescent life. The lyrics offer compliments and tender feelings that draw listeners back to the artist’s older work. “funny girl” is both touching and innocent, but the track is past due this far into her career, and feels like it would have been a better follow-up to “God Made Girls” or “Love Triangle” back in 2015.
7.8
Thing That Brought Me Here // Tenille Townes Written By Brandon Iozzo
Paying homage and comparing her artistic journey to the miles and wear her truck endures, Tenille Townes shares the back story to the beginnings of her country career, crediting a truck for how far she’s come personally and professionally. Co-written by Ben Rector and Townes herself, the song comes from a self-evidently humble place and gives the sense that the Canadian artist still has a lot of ground to cover musically. Listening even closer, “Thing That Brought Me Here” seems like a literal lyrical prayer from Townes as she continues to be optimistic and push herself in her career following a handful of past commercial flops. Though the single lacks much of a punch, the storytelling lyrics reaffirm Townes’s potential that we first saw on “Somebody’s Daughter.”
7.0
The Border – Willie Nelson Written By Adam Delahoussaye
For the best of the best, it often seems like a physical need for them to cut their teeth and tell stories as long as their minds and bodies will let them. Willie Nelson, now 90 and heading into his 74th studio album feels like the epitome of this notion. His newest release, “The Border,” is as humanizing and delicate as Rodney Crowell, its original writer surely intended it to be. A cover of Crowell’s western work ballad, Nelson here adds the beautifully brutal gravel and age his voice has garnered over the years to the story of a border patrol agent living out his days on the edges of society. Again, like any good cowboy, the edges are exactly where Nelson thrives the most. Somewhere between Ennio Morricone and a modernized Marty Robbins rests this weathered soul, living out his days the best that he can. It takes a special voice to take a story like this and give it the timeless feel it deserves, and there may be no candidate than Willie Nelson himself.
9.0
Way Out Here // Riley Green Written By Cam Greene
In what seems to be a spiritual sequel to his previous hit “Different Round Here,” Riley Green again displays his love for where he grew up with a cover of Josh Thompson’s “Way Out Here.” There is a good blend of truth and a whole lot of nostalgia in these lyrics and it comes together soundly. Obviously, country music is oversaturated with southern lifestyle anthems; the whole “this life we live is different than all of y’all” trope has been beaten to death, but Riley’s conviction gives the single a lot of heart, transforming a barebones lifestyle track into a beautiful love letter to home. The sincerity of “Way Out Here” puts it a cut above the rest, which is something we’ve come to expect from Green. His music is never world-changing or genre-defining, but it’s the earnest, slice-of-life tracks about down-home living that have made his career so successful; “Way Out Here” is a great song that adds to Riley Green’s ever-expanding canon of great songs.
8.6
Ain’t As Easy // ERNEST Written By Creed Miller
Earlier this week, ERNEST shared a preview of his sophomore album, Nashville, Tennessee. One of the five in the sample is the heartbreak ballad “Ain’t As Easy.” The track is pretty slow and has a smooth vibe that allows for his crooning voice to steal the show. The production by Joey Moi sets a velvety, polished, sound throughout; it’s contemporary enough to do well on the radio while still bearing the torch for traditional country music, a balance that ERN has found a lot of success with. Written by ERNEST himself alongside Dean Dillon, Jessie Jo Dillon, and Chandler Paul Walters, the single imagines a man who’s trying to drown the memory of a recent relationship; despite his efforts, getting over the girl isn’t as easy as it seems. ERNEST has been building a lot of anticipation for his upcoming project, and “Ain’t As Easy” should leave listeners eager for what’s to come.
8.8
Vegas // Tyler Hubbard Written By Max Buondonno
As Tyler Hubbard continues the rollout for his sophomore solo album, Strong, the former Florida Georgia Line frontman offers up another taste of what’s to come with “Vegas.” The song offers a fresh spin on the age-old tale of falling in love at first sight; our protagonist daydreams about taking his newfound love directly to Las Vegas to get hitched, officiated by an Elvis impersonator and everything. Co-written by Hubbard, Andy Albert, and Jordan Schmidt, its stadium-ready production and clever lyrics fit in with the rest of Hubbard’s catalog, but to their detriment, the single offers the same general concept as Strong’s other singles: nothing too risky, nothing too clever, and nothing that’ll make you say “Wait, this is a Tyler Hubbard song?” To his credit, Hubbard’s certainly keeping his die-heart fans happy, but everyone else will roll their eyes and brush “Vegas” off as nothing more than T-Hubb being T-Hubb.
6.9
Yippie-I-A // Ian Munsick Written By Ryan Lippe
Upon its release, Ian Munsick claimed “Yippie-I-A” to be his “most western song” to date, and the influences shine through not only in the writing but the production as well. Written alongside Carlton Anderson and Phil O’Donnell, the classic themes of longing and sorrow are vivid in every line. Munsick’s team cleverly uses the title as a personification for the blowing wind before tying the wind into the single as a metaphor for our main character riding away from his love interest. The production by Munsick and Jeremy Spillman sets a fantastic balance of building an exciting, western soundscape without stealing too much attention from the writing. All elements of the song, writing, production, and vocals, balance each other out to deliver a very pleasant listen.
8.8
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