on the pulse - 2022 - #24 - first aid kit, bailey zimmerman, noah kahan, ashley mcbryde, courtney marie andrews, gabe lee, emily scott robinson, kelsea ballerini

Kelsea Ballerini - SUBJECT TO CHANGE - I should not be as surprised with this as I am, because for the first time Kelsea Ballerini swerved a bit away from pop to lean on country! Now it’s still pop country that cribs from the vocal mixing of Red-era Taylor Swift, but it’s closer to Shania Twain with the brighter organic textures, fiddles, pedal steel, and the most live drums she’s ever had. So the sound really works… and it’s a shame the writing is so frustratingly nondescript. The reason ‘Doin My Best’ is getting the most media isn’t just because of the Halsey fallout, but it’s one of the few unique or distinctive stories here; it’s missing the messy moral ambiguity that helped her songs stand out - which given her past year you’d think she’d lean into - but then she openly references those songs! So yes, it’s a sweet, lightweight, comfortable album… but nowhere near as interesting as it could be.

Emily Scott Robinson - Built On Bones - As a side project, I’m want to like this - a gentle recontextualization of the witches of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, rooted in a morally ambiguous but historically true sacred feminine that calls to the past but is just as relevant now, helped along by Robinson’s gorgeous lilting vocals and supported by terrific harmonies from Alisa Amador and Violet Bell. But it may lean too much on the past - so much verse is pulled from Shakespeare that I wanted more of Robinson's distinctive lyrical flair, or if the beautiful country/folk production could get wilder or stranger, it may be a bit too tasteful for its own good. Granted, to a lot of audiences, to convey this transgressive framing and parallel you'll need accessibility, but when my favorite here is reinterpreted from American Siren twice on a six song EP, the studied greatness needed a shade more magic.

Gabe Lee - The Hometown Kid - This was one of my most anticipated albums of 2022, especially after Honky Tonk Hell absolutely ruled my 2020. And with a pivot towards more spacious, really well-produced Americana I was set to love this album… and yet I don’t. It’s tough to pin down why: Lee is still amazingly charismatic with a great ear for lyrical meter, his playing and production is top-notch - I love how well-micced his drums are - and the writing feels homespun, detailed, and passionate, especially whey touch sports. But there’s been a change in focus - not only have the tempos gotten slower and compositions more sprawling, it’s more reflective and nostalgic, more settled and finding value in home, losing some of that adventurous cowboy swagger. It’s like that last American Aquarium album where it’s more mature but you long for more spark. Very easy to like, it’s great stuff, just not at his peak.

Courtney Marie Andrews - Loose Future - What’s frustrating about Andrews is that she has such a striking voice and a knack for deceptively simple lyricism with such emotive resonance… provided the production is right. Stripping it down for Old Flowers felt like a misstep in 2020, so here she works with Sam Evian, who produces a warmer, more lush, acoustic chamber folk and country sound, even tilting towards wheedling psychedelia. And while it feels abbreviated and I wish her vocals were better centered in the reverb and in the end it does get away from them, it’s an improvement, especially in the layered vocal harmonies. But the lyrics are what do it for me, trying to be loose and live each relationship in the moment, cherishing the ones who can, but failing for herself, because she loves harder and history lays the path of even a loose future. So, not her best, but at least back on the cusp of greatness.

Ashley McBryde - Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville - Let me say this: the cover of Linda Ronstadt’s ‘When Will I Be Loved’ with Brandy Clark and Caylee Hammack is one of the best you’ll hear in 2022, justifies the album on that alone. But it’s on this concept album that I want to like more than I do, with the fictional town of Lindeville and its messy secrets and small town misadventures, where McBryde herself cedes a lot of time to her collaborators; a lot of detail in setting and characters - which Jenny Tolman also did a bit better complete with similar fake commercials earlier this year - but less on plot to tie things together. It just feels a bit broadly sketched - where Josh Osborne’s production is warm and organic but a bit plastic in the fine details - but its vibrant empathy with so many tremendous individual performances including that finale… it’s the right kind of camp, I’ll call it great.

Noah Kahan - Stick Season - Is early 2010s folk having a nostalgic revival? Did it never really go away? Consider Noah Kahan, who fits between James Bay and Mumford & Sons with surprisingly sharp melodic instincts. So with no critical buzz but a real following, I was curious… and I'll say this: it’s edgeless and way too long and Kahan’s vocal runs and falsetto make me irrationally angry - he's got willowy, stereotypical indie guy voice - but solid tunes and bombast is going to make him a goddamn superstar if managed properly. And honestly, for me that can make up for a lot… except for the writing, which hits the uncanny valley of impressively basic but also bleeding with faux-self-aware, overprivileged whinging petulance that can’t sell any darker ideas or tragedy. At best it’s blandly pleasant, at worst it’s pleasantly insufferable. That’s not a recommendation.

Bailey Zimmerman - Leave The Light On - You know, when this guy first came on the scene I think everyone pegged him as a Morgan Wallen ripoff, but this EP shows there’s more to this guy and even where he might surpass Wallen, certainly this year! What’s fascinating is that his melodies feel much closer to adult alternative or even post-grunge as a fit for the sour, angry side to his breakup songs, and there’s an intensity to the vivid detail that feels more emotionally true than you’d expect. Shame that away from the first few singles the rest of the EP is just decent - I like how it leans on bluesy, country tones with some great fiddle, but the production is average at best, the nasal warble could use some refinement, and a lot of the relationship songs have an angsty, clingy side that doesn’t have the same resonance. So… call it promisingly good with room to grow up, I want to hear more.

First Aid Kit - Palomino - It’s been four years since the last First Aid Kit album, and while this Swedish duo has a formula, Ruins had them expanding their sound and early 2018 feels like a lifetime ago. And this sees them push even further, embracing 70s soft rock and country with horns and synths for their most vivid pop hooks to where it can almost feel oversaturated; the production is fine balancing warm colourful mixes and terrific vocal harmonies, but between goopy synths, some clipping, and feeling very beholden to its influences, it’s not as good as it could be. And that feels true with the compositions and lyrics too - maybe needing a bit more lyrical detail to flesh out moments of sweet yearning in or out of relationships, maybe not enough anthemic hooks going for broke, it’s polished and accessible, but lacks the impact of their best. I’d call it quite good, not great.