First Listen: Brandi Carlile, Alexandra Kay and the Albums You Need To Hear This Week

If last week’s country lineup was a whiskey shot — bold, a little messy, but hard to forget — this week’s releases are the slow sip after.

From heartbreak to honky-tonk and everything in between, here’s what’s spinning across Music City (and our playlists).

After listening to all of this week's new releases, the Holler staff have their say:

American psychologist Abraham Maslow once remarked, “It isn’t normal to know what we want. It is a rare and difficult psychological achievement.” Maslow, best known for developing the concept of self-actualization, believed that fulfilling one’s deepest potential was no simple feat but the highest form of internal growth—one that comes only through great sacrifice.

Brandi Carlile’s eighth studio album, Returning to Myself, wrestles with the aftermath of such achievement. Rather than plotting her next move, the heralded artist turns inward, questioning what remains once the summit has been reached—a summit defined by nearly a decade of extraordinary accomplishments.

In just eight years, Carlile has earned eleven Grammy Awards, contributed to eleven albums, and poured herself into philanthropy and the Girls Just Wanna Weekend festival series—all while raising a family. Some of those projects included collaborations with icons such as Tanya Tucker, Joni Mitchell, and Elton John. At this point, no one questions Carlile’s immense ability, only her tireless drive. Returning to Myself reveals that even she is beginning to toy with the notion of an internal off-switch, proving that even gladiator-esque titans are, in the end, resoundingly human. Yet even in her most vulnerable moments, Carlile refuses to fully disconnect from her source inspirations, finding new ways to pay homage to her heroes.

While inspired by Emmylou Harris’ defiant Wrecking Ball, the reverberations of Joni Mitchell’s influence can be felt throughout—though always with a distinctly Carlile spin. Mitchell’s work bears the intricate, openwork loops and twists of refined lace, while Carlile’s cultivates the durable yet distinct weave of denim—both displaying a signature strength that endures the tests of time.

“And returning to myself is such a lonely thing to do / But it’s the only thing to do,” Carlile sings on the evocative opener, accompanied by a rightfully imperfect guitar. Here, she poses a series of dizzying questions about the state of being—ones that demand repeat listens until some tried-and-true answers surface. It’s a disarming introduction, dusted with the same wistful wonder that lingers through Mitchell’s famed ‘Both Sides, Now.’

The soulful astuteness of ‘A Woman Oversees’ endures through its striking call-and-response chorus, where Carlile’s larger-than-life voice softens into a more dissecting focus. That same spirit of observation echoes in Mitchell’s cyclical ‘The Circle Game,’ both artists tracing life’s patterns with equal parts clarity and compassion.

On the fiery, alternative standout ‘Church & State,’ Carlile sings, “Burn tomorrow, never fade / They’re here today then they’re gone forever,” lamenting the status quo in American politics. Approaching the subject with poetic restraint, she opts for thought-provoking reflection over senseless retaliation, much like Mitchell once wielded the quiet power of ‘The Fiddle and the Drum’ in her observation of the Vietnam War.

Fittingly, it’s on the ethereal ‘Joni’ that Carlile reflects most openly on the past few years of her glittering life—honoring not the magnitude of her achievements, but the sheer tenacity of Mitchell herself. In revealing intimate details of their friendship, Carlile faces the closing of a remarkable chapter and absorbs the lessons it leaves behind. Even with all the awards and enviable opportunities, it’s clear that, in her heart of hearts, she longs for something deeper to be remembered by.

Returning to Myself is, assuredly, a love letter to Mitchell—but more than that, it’s a tender farewell to an extraordinary era of personal achievement and growth.

Rating: 8/10

On All Hat, Joshua Hedley doesn’t just play country music, he time-travels through it. The crooner’s new record is a full-throttle dive into the golden age of honky-tonk and Western swing, delivered with such precision it feels both nostalgic and new. It’s Hedley doing what he does best: wearing tradition on his sleeve, tipping his hat to the legends, and reminding everyone that classic country never needed fixing in the first place.

Sonically, All Hat could’ve been pressed straight to vinyl in 1962. It’s brimming with twangy Telecasters, slap-back bass, and that clean shuffle beat that belongs somewhere between a dimly lit dance hall and a roadside diner jukebox. Hedley’s vocals are as rich and steady as ever; smooth but commanding, the kind that makes you picture him in a tailored Nudie suit under a neon glow at his beloved Robert's.

Tracks like the title cut and 'Fresh Hot Biscuits' lean into the humor of vintage country, so faithful to the sound they border on parody - but in the most endearing, knowing way. It’s camp meets craftsmanship, a wink and a nod from an artist who knows exactly what he’s doing. There’s no irony here, just reverence, rhythm, and a damn good time.

Produced with warm analog textures and zero pretense, All Hat is an album made for purists and new fans alike; a spirited love letter to the era when country music was raw, funny, and unmistakably alive.

Rating: 8.5 /10

The last twelve months have been mega for Alexandra Kay. The Illinois native has wrapped up her support slot with Jelly Roll on his ‘Beautifully Broken Arena Tour’, gave a mesmerising performance of ‘How Do You Miss Me’ with Dallas Smith at the CCMA Awards in Kelowna, BC, opened her first ‘The Coffee Girl’ coffee shop and smashed a headline tour over in the UK and Europe.

Second Wind, her first record for This Is Hit, sees Kay’s distinct vocals dazzle across 14 tracks of high energy and fun songs perfectly amalgamated with stunning songwriting and tender moments. From the Morgan Wallen-infused ‘Right Now’ to the beautifully sentimental ‘What He Does’, and the Jelly Roll inspired ‘Hell Right’, Kay makes sure we can never guess her next move. Instantly hooking listeners from the opener ‘Better Off’, Kay delivers one of the most memorable lines from the entire album, “we did all our damage before death could do us part,” perfectly demonstrating her talent as a lyricist.

With Second Wind, she’s fully cemented herself as an artist that is owning the country pop corner, and is hot on the heels of the likes of Kelsea Ballerini and Ashley Cooke.

This is definitely Alexandra Kay’s second wind.

Rating: 8/10

Jonny Fritz returns from paternity leave and an extended sabbatical from music with the weirdest and most wonderful country record you'll hear all year.

The first of four interlinked records from him, each one features a wildly unique take on the exact same set of songs. First up is the country version of Debbie Downers. Recorded in Nashville and produced by Jordan Lehning with a band of world-class studio musicians, it promises to be the most straight forward of the four versions, but it still sounds like the last 100 years of country music being turned upside down and swung around by its tail.

Like Kinky Friedman's Sold American or Jim White's Wrong Eyed Jesus, the new album from Jonny Fritz would be an oddity if it came out at any point in country music history, but it stands out particularly at the moment as a timely treatise on following your heart and standing your ground from one of America's great eccentrics. Imagine the Flaming Lips cutting a country record in Nashville in the early 1970s and you're still only halfway close to Debbie Downers.

There's an old adage thrown around about great singers that they could sing the phone book and it would still be brilliant, but in Jonny Fritz's case it wouldn't only be brilliant, it would be filled with genuine pathos and touched with moments of genius.

Take for example 'Have You Seen Her,' his loving tribute to the film Her, written from his hospital bed, where he dissects the plot of the Spike Jonze film and the onset relationship between Scarlett Johannsen and Joaquin Phoenix at the same time as he works in some unexpectedly touching musings on art and romance.

Whether he's skewering his MAGA relatives on the title track or taking potshots at Nashville's celebrity and bachelorette party culture on 'Hot Chicken Condos,' Jonny Fritz is the anti-hero of his own bizarro world version of country music, where his blue-collar anthems are blasting out of every bar on Broadway and everything is the opposite of what it is now.

Nate Smith might have elected himself as country music's moral arbiter, standing at the entry gates deciding who can and can't be let in, but it's never existed unilaterally. There have always been multiple timelines running alongside each other; The Opryland USA theme park opened in Nashville while Gram Parsons was recording GP, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music came out the same year as Sam Hunt's Montevallo, and Crystal Gayle's 'Don't It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue' won a CMA Awards in the same category as David Allan Coe's 'Take This Job And Shove It.'

Country music has always been a multiverse. Right now, it feels really good to spend some time in an alternate reality where Jonny Fritz is the king of it.

8.5 / 10

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For more on this week's artists, see below: