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Really, we should've seen the surprise twist from Taylor coming shouldn't we? There we all were, eagerly awaiting 16 new tracks from this once-in-a-generation songwriter, for her to actually drop 31 tracks of cruelly relatable poetry on us. Cue incessant crying for the past seven days as we peeled back the layers of the damn thing.
So forgive us if we're sounding a bit fragile this week. While we're still recovering from the lyrical hangover Swift has given us, there's three just as important country records to delve into today (April 26) upon their release.
With his 13th record in nine years, Mr Charles Crockett is quickly becoming the Glen Campbell and Willie Nelson of our times - a songwriter who never stops writing and consistently releases records that we'll be still returning to and classifying as seminal gems in decades time. $10 Cowboy most certainly falls into that bracket, as Holly Smith discovers.
It feels like we've been waiting for a full-length from MacKenzie Porter for donkeys now. Certainly a contender for the Underrated Country Singles Championship, Porter has been raking in the streams on smash hits like 'Pickup' and 'Thinking 'Bout You', her blast of a duet with Dustin Lynch. Now, with her debut album, she attempts to channel the breadth of her single success into a concise record. Does she manage it? Soda Canter decides.
Who the hell expected Lost Dog Street Band to release another record, eh? Benjamin Tod and Co. seemed pretty wrapped up, as Tod thrived in the freedom of his solo output. It seems that change in creativity inspired the group's reformation and return, this new album Survived seemingly both closing a chapter and starting a new one. Is it a welcome return? Alli Patton investigates.
Lots to unpack and wrap our ears around this week, let's delve in.
Charley Crockett - $10 Cowboy
"Crockett may be a $10 Cowboy, but the dynamite he’s sitting on could blow open a diamond mine"
Notoriously prolific in his output, $10 Cowboy is Charley Crockett's 13th album in nine years.
Like every great American troubadour, his music has the holy combination of being ripe for both listening and singing along to. It’s a scene-setting backing track to a cross country road trip that becomes part of the very air in your truck as you absent-mindedly sing along to its refrains, or a document to be disseminated for those who find stories of their own life in its words.
Read Holly Smith's full review of Charley Crockett's $10 Cowboy.
MacKenzie Porter - Nobody's Born With A Broken Heart
"Porter offers a deep dive into the many dimensions of heartbreak"
An already established multihyphenate, MacKenzie Porter’s determined talent drives the 19-track collection, even when the scale of the production distracts from her point of view.
Nobody’s Born With A Broken Heart serves as an effective vehicle to introduce Porter to a broader audience. Yet it pushes too hard in highlighting every corner of her multifaceted abilities over the course of one collection. With talent this natural and a heart so vulnerable, Porter needs far less to let her rising star shine.
Read Soda Canter's full review of MacKenzie Porter's Nobody's Born With A Broken Heart.
Lost Dog Street Band - Survived
"Each song on Survived seems vital"
Lost Dog Street Band's new album - and this new chapter as a whole - doesn’t simply begin; it awakens, reinvigorated and hungry, straining its bleary eyes against a bright pluck and stretching its eager bones to a racing rhythm. Immediately, something is different.
Mega-hits may not be in abundance on the record, but what are are necessary expressions, both beautifully worn and exposing. While Survived was never meant to happen, it ultimately had to in order for Lost Dog Street Band to show what they’re truly made of.
Read Alli Patton's full review of Lost Dog Street Band's Survived.
Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology
"What will remain here is truly all that matters - the tortured words of a poet"
Taylor Swift is secure in her calling. In fact, she’s fully committed - she’s locked in, keys tossed. On her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, Swift allows herself to be completely consumed by her craft, conjuring gloriously chaotic and chilling results that reinvent the work of her origin.
At a staggering 31 songs, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology is certainly not a succinct body of work. But, it does serve as an in-depth, raw examination of how an artist processes life through their music. Even after conquering the world, Swift remains uniquely obsessed in not just experimenting with her craft, but noting her own personal evolution.
Read Soda Canter's review of Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.
For more country albums being released in 2024, see below:
