Editor’s Note: Here at No Depression there’s too much great roots music in a year for us to cover it all. So in December, when new releases slow down, we ask writers to review some of the best albums we missed throughout the year in an ongoing series called What We Missed.
Joelton Mayfield sounds nothing like Bruce Springsteen, but he shares one important skill with The Boss: The ability to capture titanic emotions in a concise song. This volcanic debut unspools unruly tales of heartbreak, faith (or lack of it), and the search for fulfillment in a confounding world. Harrowing and rewarding at once, Crowd Pleaser is an unforgettable trip through a tempestuous soul.
Although the Texas-bred, Nashville-based Mayfield has the honky-tonk voice of a woeful hillbilly, he’s aiming for something more transcendent than cheating and drinking songs. Boasting a sprawling cast of 18 players and backing singers, Crowd Pleaser ranges from spare, intimate tunes to a rootsy take on orchestral pop. In the liner notes, Mayfield writes that he recorded the album “mostly live in a big, two-story barn” in Alabama way back in February 2021 – it would be interesting to know why the release took so long. In any case, it feels remarkably fresh, smoothly blending a diverse lineup of instruments in different settings. Synths and pedal steel rub elbows on one track, while vibraphone and dobro joust in another. Mayfield leads the charge on guitars and keyboards, as well as banjo, harmonica, and slide whistle.
