Muscadine Bloodline - ...And What Was Left Behind

Acting as a companion album to their 2024 stand-out album, Coastal Plains, Muscadine Bloodline offer up another stellar collection of homegrown tales straight from the south on their newest project, …And What Was Left Behind.

The second chapter of Coastal Plains is coated in nostalgia for the South Alabama landscape that the boys called home for most of their lives. Memories of heartbreak stand out on the beautiful ‘Church of Chickasaw Christ’ while lessons of brotherhood and betrayal hit hard on the religiously-fueled ‘Am I Your Keeper’ before exploring the tale further on the classic-style murder ballad of the Blanton Brothers. Depicting the lengths that three “hell bound heathens” will go to in order to protect their own, the story and sound ramps up to a country-rock frenzy as we frantically move through a story of loyalty, revenge and ultimately regret.

After the gritty, moody Josh Meloy feature on ‘Ain’t For Sale,’ the album also features Ben Chapman on ‘Hittin’ My Stride.’ As the country-funk prodigy takes on his own verse, we’re taken a few steps deeper into the south and even further into swamp-rock territory. With endlessly cool guitar work throughout, the track pushes the collection forward, slipping into a new groove and a slightly new direction for Muscadine.

In a stompin’, honky tonkin’ Saturday night anthem with some of the record’s best instrumental work, ‘Durward’ sees the boys let loose. Creeping into bluegrass territory, a quick line like “I’d double back and I’d double down and I’d anchor down to find you” before moving into a twisting chorus is as dizzying as the guitar picking they pair it with. Between the bass line on ‘Borrowing a Broken Heart’ and the slightly gentler, string-fuelled ‘Meant to be Friends,’ Muscadine explores almost every flavour of southern country across …And What Was Left Behind’s eleven tracks. With a knack for alliterative hooks and deceptively clever songwriting, even the more cliched lyrics find their place when they’re delivered with the intentional phrasing that comes with the duo’s ‘bama boy accents.

Muscadine have always leaned heavily into their Alabama heritage, but on …And What Was Left Behind they’re simply digging in even deeper. As a pairing to Coastal Plains, it offers a poignant evolution of their storytelling, while equally demonstrating their capabilities for sonic versatility. Becoming more and more confident in their rootsy, gritty sound with each release, Muscadine Bloodline have hit their stride, and the only question is which direction they head in next.

8/10

Muscadine Bloodline’s 2025 project, …And What Was Left Behind, is available everywhere on April 11 via Stancaster Records via Thirty Tigers.

For more on Muscadine Bloodline, see below: