Last Thing You Need – Morgan Wallen Written By Max Buondonno
Out of nowhere, we got a Morgan Wallen song on the GTA VI soundtrack before the game even launched. As a surprise drop, it’s hard to predict the vibe you’ll wind up with from Wallen. After all, there’s a fair shot that a song for a video game soundtrack from the artist could be a crummy B-list track from I’m the Problem or something. Instead, it’s one of his more pleasant pop tunes in recent memory. The song boasts a dreamy production with a spacious, atmospheric guitar riff. The rest of the production follows the same vein, with Wallen’s signature autotuned twang conveying his availability to a woman he still loves, despite their relationship sounding toxic and best avoided. It’s in that pretentiousness where Wallen, once again, excels. Similar to songs like “Kiss Her in Front of You” and “Thinkin’ Bout Me,” he’s just good at sounding like a jerk, especially over a pop-leaning instrumental. “Last Thing You Need” has a slightly slower pace than other contemporary tracks he’s released, which works to its advantage. It avoids feeling like an attention-grabbing party anthem and sounds more intentional and articulate. Wallen can toe the line with modern Nashville musical stylings and still kick out something meaningful, which is saying a lot for a song from literally Grand Theft Auto.
7.9
Bartender in Destin – Riley Green Written By Aishwarya Rajan
As a listener makes their way down Riley Green’s latest project, That’s Just Me, they will eventually stumble upon “Bartender in Destin,” and one thought will likely present itself: why is a man from Alabama exaggerating the country accent he already has? It’s as though he’s forcing a twang that usually comes naturally, especially in lines like “my heart damn near hit the floor” and every mention of a “tattoo.” Then, after three minutes and 14 seconds of trying to convince your ears that there is something worthy of praise, only one conclusion remains: this is a snoozey piece. Aside from the pitchy tones spewing out from under his mustache, the story itself is uninteresting and circular; a painfully slow unraveling of him chatting up a dive bartender in Destin. Acoustic tracks often showcase a vocalist’s raw talent, and for Green, this one exposes a lack thereof. He sounds unenthused, inauthentic, and anything but enamored by the bartender. For an album that has an MO for being melodically one-note, the one time Green shakes it up a bit, he himself becomes one-note. He drones on for the entirety of the piece, with no climax, no instrumental pattern to keep you hooked, and no storytelling nuance to sustain your attention.
4.7
Mr. Middleman – Jackson Wendell Written By Aishwarya Rajan
Strangely, the last five years have seen an uptick in acts carving out a lane, fostering soulful charm with reverberating and swinging guitar playing. A few young artists have managed to thrive in this space: Ty Myers and Solon Holt are the most striking examples that come to mind. With his new single “Mr. Middleman,” Jackson Wendell may be a new addition to that rolodex. Following in the melodic footsteps of his peers, the underlying instrumental construction of this track proves to be much more fitting for Wendell’s vocal capabilities and far better than anything else in his discography to date. While “East Texas Beauty Queen” hinted at the direction, it leaned more honky-tonk than soul. That said, the real star of the show is the melody underneath. Led by Brandon Hood, it’s a playground of tempo changes and swanky strings set against warm, intimate pedal steel swipes, the occasional gentle, rolling drumbeat, and organ frill. The whole arrangement evokes the ambiance of candlelight. His vocals don’t necessarily lift the track on their own, but his tone is met perfectly by the tempo shifts and pared-back instrumentals in the pre-chorus, which give his velvet-smooth voice room to shine. That groundwork also sets up a vocal turn that doesn’t quite sit in Wendell’s wheelhouse when he reaches for “Man in the sky, can you give me a helping hand,” pleading for God to intervene in his love life. Even so, the track is a step in the right direction for Wendell, and it should stand as a directive for his sound still to come.
7.0
Cørnerman – Stephen Wilson Jr. Written By Adam Delahoussaye
When he fought Mike Tyson in 2000, Julius Francis described Tyson’s punch as “a kick from a horse.” Buster Douglas thought that a blow from Tyson felt more like getting hit with the trunk of an oak tree. Stephen Wilson Jr., a former fighter himself, knows a thing or two about getting the wind knocked out of him, but “Cornerman” seems more interested in the seconds that feel like hours after the initial blow. The ones where time freezes as your vision blurs, brain and body trying to sync up and make sense of the shock. Wilson also knows that disorienting dizziness isn’t confined to the ring, as he eulogizes here in the wake of a loss that makes his knees buckle like a sucker punch from a heavyweight champion would. You can hear him fighting to regain urgency in his callouts, swinging aimlessly to delay the eventual crumple, that signature reverberating guitar strum like the ringing in his ears as he tries to stay alert. Even if it’s a response to grief, “Cornerman” is as much about the response to getting knocked on his ass as it is the actual sensation. “If you step through the ropes, know you’ve already won,” he croons, perhaps saying that getting your feet set and fists back in front of you is as much of a victory as walking away with the belt.
7.5
Escatawpa Hollow – Muscadine Bloodline Written By Adam Delahoussaye
What if there was a pop-punk band that romanticized the return home rather than the departure? The question has been suggested in the footnotes of many Muscadine Bloodline catalog entries, most notably on their Longleaf Lo-Fi LP, where the duo sounds like Parker Cannon in camo pants. The group finally takes a stab at an answer in “Escatawpa Hollow,” an ode to high school sweethearts and the freshwater fishes still swimming in the bottom of the river. The conclusion is about as angsty as the two probably were in their high school days, filled to the brim with wiry amplifiers and chest-filling drum runs. But like with most Muscadine numbers, the secret sauce is in the callbacks. At their best, the songwriting reads like they’re letting us in on some small-town gossip, only here they’re not in earshot of the scuttlebutt anymore. Becky stopped picking up her phone; what if the guy who stayed home after graduation got to her first? The speculation alone is enough to make Gary Stanton and Charlie Muncaster writhe and pine behind their microphones. That punchy, in-your-face arrangement only matches the griminess of the feelings, a knot in their collective stomach that feels like it’s been festering since the day they left home behind. Yearning to get back to your roots has never sounded so frantic, the two struggling to get back in tune with home rather than outrun it altogether.
8.6
Turn on the Radio – KC Bruner Written By Noah Sneath
Patience is refreshing. People don’t really seem to believe that success can be earned through hard work and marginal gains anymore. As far as the music-consuming public is concerned, you’re either an industry plant or no one. And so the market adapts. In an all-or-nothing world, virality and dreams of overnight success replace winning over fans song by song, show by show. Of course, the latter is still happening. Still, there’s something so charming about an artist who is seemingly free of desperate attention-seeking behavior in their music or their “brand” (whatever that means). KC Bruner isn’t selling you anything. She makes good music, and she does it her way. Her way starts with a voice that is hard to pin down. Throughout a single phrase, she will move from conversational to competent country singer to melismatic elegance. In a single song, you might hear her glide across a handful of singing styles with ease. In “Turn on the Radio,” she uses a rubato, stream-of-consciousness phrasing that gives the song a real-time feel and allows it to unfold like a love letter. As a composition, this latest single in Bruner’s growing collection isn’t her most interesting, but it succeeds nonetheless and owes its accomplishment to the charisma and talent of the performer. Bruner has only released a few tracks so far in her fledgling career. Here’s to hoping that we’ll get an EP or debut album sometime soon.
7.3
One More Hurt – 80 Acres feat. Wyatt Flores Written By Joel Reuben Pauley
Only a select few acts have figured out a truly tasteful fusion of country and pop-punk, and 80 Acres is a group that is leading that conversation. In their new collaboration with Wyatt Flores, they continue to make the sound work, marking only the sixth song in their discography. In “One More Hurt,” they really let loose, creating one of their best musical performances yet. One of the track’s strengths is the heavy use of gritty guitar. There are also so many breaks where the whole band simultaneously pauses between beats, adding emphasis to the lyrics and livening up the overall energy. Flores and Marlowe both show off some of their best vocal delivery in a range that flatters them equally. The message of the song isn’t super out of the ordinary for country or pop-punk, mostly just pleading for a little more fun before a breakup. However, when paired with the rock-heavy band behind them, both acts have created something everyone can appreciate and jam to. With another release under their belt, it’s proven that the group’s existence is more than just a one-time Dylan Marlowe passion project.
8.2
Bad Guy – Briley King Written By Joel Reuben Pauley
With only two originals and a cover to her name, Briley King is making an incredibly promising start to what is hopefully a long, successful career. “Bad Guy,” one of her two new singles, showcases her creativity in a very funky two-minute-and-40-second span. There’s so much life sewn into the track that it’s impossible not to like it, even without knowing what it’s about. The way she delivers “Twist it how you want to, here’s the knife,” just before the end of the chorus, is such gold and will likely stick in each of her listeners’ heads for a while. What Briley is saying in the song is a great addition to her short catalog, showing a little bit of her identity and a lot of her attitude. In every line, she builds up to the main statement that she’ll “always be the bad guy.” Written by herself along with Miranda Lambert and Jesse Frasure, you won’t be disappointed by the penmanship on display. As we heard in her version of “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia,” King’s voice is top-tier, which is another reason this song is so listenable. From top to bottom, this is one of the most enjoyable releases of the year, and marks the beginning of an artist’s career who is absolutely worth paying attention to.
9.3
Lonely Boy – Emily Ann Roberts Written By Will Chapman
There is something wonderfully familiar about Emily Ann Roberts’s “Lonely Boy.” Produced by Frank Rogers and written by Roberts alongside Ryan Beaver and Rogers, the song clearly draws from a distinctly early-2000s strain of country music while incorporating the fiddle, mandolin, and acoustic guitar textures of bluegrass. It’s a fairly simple song at its core, but the arrangement is anything but sparse. There is a remarkable amount of movement happening beneath Roberts’s vocal, and it is that musical detail that gives “Lonely Boy” much of its character. The train beat, paired with the moving bassline and chord inversions, provides a sense of perpetuity throughout the arrangement. Fiddle and mandolin introduce an unmistakable bluegrass vocabulary, while Bryan Sutton’s acoustic guitar becomes one of the central voices in the arrangement. The result is a remarkably lush country recording. It feels like home, not in the abstract, sentimental sense, but in the physical sense of running through a wheat field as the wind blows waves through the crop. Most importantly, the production leaves considerable room for Roberts herself. There is a natural clarity and confidence in her delivery that allows the melody to remain at the center of the record. “Lonely Boy” ultimately succeeds through the cumulative effect of its details. Nothing here is particularly ostentatious. It is the accumulation of great, small musical decisions that ultimately create a record that feels firmly grounded in country music without reducing those traditions to aesthetic signifiers. It is familiar, but not derivative; polished, but still organic.
9.0
I Love You – Wyatt McCubbin Written By Will Chapman
Wyatt McCubbin takes us to the sand region on his latest track “I Love You.” Produced by Dave Cobb and written by McCubbin alongside Marty Stuart, it is a love song by trade, but the music places it somewhere out west. There is a distinct desert atmosphere woven throughout the arrangement, giving the song a sense of destination that is difficult to miss. Lyrically, McCubbin returns to the same sentiment a few times throughout the song, but there is a sincerity in the repetition. “You’ve heard me say it a thousand times before / But every time I mean it more” is a remarkably uncomplicated way of expressing something that is, by nature, difficult to articulate. The song does not need much more than that. The most striking decision comes at the end; “I Love You” fades out, something you do not hear much in country music in 2026, but it’s executed beautifully here. The outro carries on for nearly two minutes after the final lyric, transforming what could have been a conventional ending into something much more evocative. The lyric is intimate and direct, while the music seems to keep expanding beyond it. “I Love You” is a small song with a large horizon. The two elements, lyric and arrangement, work in tandem, giving a straightforward declaration of love, a setting that feels expansive.
8.3
Keepin’ Caroline – Briley King Written By Noah Sneath
This review is pointless. Don’t read it. It’s a waste of time even to consider sitting in judgment of anything Briley King will release because that woman is a force of nature, an exceptionally talented singer, and is going to make it happen one way or another. That said, “Keepin’ Caroline” rules, and everyone excited about Mrs. King’s debut should be thrilled that her first two singles are as well put together as they are. Flashy, elegant, and idiosyncratic, “Keepin’ Caroline” has an eccentric musical identity that is very much in line with the aesthetic brand that Briley King has built for herself over the years. Lyrically, Briley King may be in a league of her own. Smilingly vicious lines like “You’re a low-down dirty dog / Bringing them fleas back home” and “Baby, leave the gold band / Get to know your right hand” are sharp, organic, and original. Unlike some others in the genre, she’s been building an “I’m sweet but don’t get on my bad side” brand since before it was cool. On top of it all, she is an undeniable talent. She can belt, she can croon, and she can mold a melody with the best of them. But remember, this review is pointless. Don’t even read it. Briley King is inevitable.
8.6
In This Boat – Dylan Marlowe Written By Max Buondonno
Dylan Marlowe has strayed off the beaten path he seemed destined for as of late, and it’s working out for him. The lead single from his upcoming self-titled album, “In This Boat,” offers a lightweight remedy to fix a relationship with a day on the water, where Marlowe keeps things fun and catchy with foot-stomping drums and plucky guitars. It doesn’t try to sound like bro-country from yesteryear or veer too far into ignorant territory with the lyrics. Instead, it relies solely on the chorus to pull you in, which is a total earworm and will be fun for summer barbecues next June. It doesn’t try too hard to impress you either; the song almost feels like it’s catchy by accident. Marlowe sounds relaxed and laid-back throughout, which gives it an enjoyable vibe you’ll probably bop your head to. On the other hand, it’s a very interesting way to lay up your next album. While no one’s accusing Marlowe of being Shakespeare in the world of country music, “In This Boat” doesn’t exactly paint a clear picture of what to expect from an album that bears his name. Maybe he’ll dig deeper into more intentional topics throughout the rest of the tracklist, but for now, we can all cruise in a boat to something lighthearted and easy to listen to.
7.1
