Rachel Cholst

Lots of artists emerged from lockdown with a newfound sense of purpose, perhaps a new level of introspection or with a new style or instrument. This is important, but, if we’re being honest with ourselves, we’re all a little worse for wear. Hello June’s new album, Artifacts,

Jenny Owen Youngs has lived through just about every possible human experience since her last full-length album in 2012, An Unwavering Band of Light. Eleven years, a marriage, a divorce, a second marriage, and a baby later, Owen Youngs returns to the microphone with her intimate Avalanche. The album finds

From the first second of All Bad, Nick Shoulders wants you to know this isn’t your grandpa’s country music. The album’s instrumental overture, “Hoarse Whisperer,” begins with a phaser blast and a sample of a menacing deep voice declaring “So if this is truly a conversation, then

Saltwater Hank brings country music to its roots on G̱al’üünx wil lu Holtga Liimi, an album written entirely in Sm’algyax, the language of the Ts’msyen people of Kxeen (Prince Rupert, British Columbia). Sm’algyax is older than Ancient Greek, but today there are no first-generation speakers

Peter One’s story is intrinsic to his new album, Come Back to Me — moreso than most. This is One’s first album in 30 years. After attaining stardom in his native country, Cote d’Ivoire, One (Pierre-Evrard Tra) fled the civil war there and emigrated to the United States.

Five years in the making, Angelica Rockne’s sophomore effort, The Rose Society, is worth the wait. Her debut, Queen of San Antonio, cemented Rockne as a stalwart of cosmic country. Rockne’s move to Los Angeles made sense, and The Rose Society chronicles Rockne’s romance and disillusionment with