Battles continue to rage across the country music landscape, stretching from the aesthetic to the political. Through it all, country musicians continue to put out a treasure trove of excellent new material. This week was particularly fruitful.
From global giants like Luke Bryan to new wunderkinds like Waylon Wyatt, the airwaves were alive this weekend with country. Most of the new releases were singles. Some were stand-alones, others precursors of soon-to-be-released albums. And there was one major album of note.
The Bryan number – “Word on the Street” – is nice enough, with a hooky little opening riff played over a primordial growl. The chorus, though, is a minor letdown, drifting into a generic bro-country high-volume anthem. Wyatt’s single – “Didn’t Forget” – is also a minor letdown, though it is buoyed by the presence of Wyatt Flores sharing the vocals.
But if those were vaguely anti-climactic, three other artists delivered the good.
3 great country music releases to liven up your week
“Arkansas Mud” by Ashley McBryde
McBryde’s 2022 collaborative album, Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville, is one of the best creations this decade, regardless of genre. She followed it up with The Devil I Know a year later. It was another fine effort, though it lacked some of the sparkle of Lindeville.
We hadn’t heard much from the Arkansas singer for the past couple of years. But she is back in raging glory on this single, as swampy as the title suggests, and a perfect vehicle for showcasing her tour-de-force vocals. This is high-octane country rock that recalls Lucinda Williams and name drops Curtis Loew. If this cut had been released in 1970, it would have been considered heavy metal.
“I Own This Bar” by Braxton Keith
Keith has yet to release a full-length studio album, but the native of Midlands, Texas, continues to pile up hard-charging, '80s-style country hits. His 2024 EP Blue featured hooky mid-tempo love laments, but now he goes out with a laugh-out-loud honky tonk ode to drinking and to lying and the way they comprise the lifeblood of a flirtatious Saturday night.
If you like the old school sounds of country swing, from Bob Wills to George Strait, “I Own This Bar” will hook you from the opening notes.
Cloud 9 by Megan Moroney
The queen of modern country is showing no signs of slowing down. Cloud 9 is the Savannah native’s third studio album, and it builds on what she has established in Lucky and Am I Okay?
We won’t do a track-by-track breakdown. Suffice to say, there is no filler among its 15 songs, which stretch from plaintive love-heartbreak tunes to flat-out rockers. Ably assisted by Sugarland’s Kristian Bush, who has produced all three of Moroney’s albums to date, she is writing better and better songs and collaborating with other elite songwriters like Luke Laird and Mackenzie Carpenter.
Highlights include a couple of collaborations. The sweet lament of “I Only Miss You” with Ed Sheeran has shown up at a live performance or two. The half-snark/half-desperate “Bells & Whistles” recalls “I’m Not Pretty” from Lucky, only this time Moroney has Kacey Musgraves joining in.
She goes honky tonk on the role-reversing “Medicine,” while “Wish I Didn’t” is state-of-the-art modern country pop. “Wedding Dress” is just a heartbreaking classic country ballad.
Moroney continues to deliver what great country singers have always provided. Smart, personal stories set to a wide range of catchy melodies. Three albums in and she shows no signs of slowing down.