Emily Scott Robinson begins her latest record, Appalachia, with a hymn, a promise for the year ahead to be better than the last. With a melancholic echo of “Auld Lang Syne,” Robinson offers some hope for new beginnings even when it seems unthinkable. And though “Hymn for the Unholy” wasn’t written for 2026, it sure feels like the right tincture for this moment.
That prescience is dotted like mist over Appalachia, a set of heirloom-like tunes that are some of Robinson’s most lovingly crafted, sung in her purest, golden tone. In exploring her own history and the history of the place that made her, Robinson unveils what feels like wisdom for the future. Everything is cyclical, one can always start again.
