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G. DeLisle, ... Around (****): An unusual request, really, from an artist who is forever mining the genre's past for inspiration and, in doing so, has emerged as one of the most compelling work in the greater country universe. On this set, DeLisle draws from her widest range of classic styles yet...

Grey DeLisle's "Don't Turn Around" album cover.

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K. Michelle, Jesus & Whiskey (***1/2): I can barely remember my life before she started teasing a proper country album, and she's delivered at long, long last. And there is something powerful and subversive about a black woman claiming the specific brand of Music Row country that she has claimed...

K. Michelle's "Jesus & Whiskey" album cover.

C. Smith, Peace... (***1/2): A few too many songs focus on her own fame, always a dodgy prospect even for the most gifted of singer-songwriters, but this is another testament to her exceptional singing and pop-country know-how. The Brandy Clark (!) collab pairs her w a true artistic peer, too.

Caitlyn Smith's "Peace in My Mind" album cover.

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Hillbilly Thomists, Strange Land (***): As ever, the *idea* of Hillbilly Thomists does a lot more for me than does the recorded output itself. This is another perfectly fine record for what it is, and I'm glad that it (and the band, too) exists in the world, though I doubt I'll revisit this much.

The Hillbilly Thomists' "Strange Land" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 13/10/2026

ALT, ... Underdog (****): I do miss the more overtly country flourishes of his earlier work, which highlighted his T. Snider alignment, but I also love how he's emerged as Americana's leading pop classicist (read: M. Sweet, S. Hoffs). His style remains as distinctive as his wry, sharp songwriting.

Aaron Lee Tasman's "Get Over It, Underdog" album cover.

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R. Downing, Landfill Poetry (****): Perfectly titled set on which a solo Deslonde embraces his role as the country genre's premier Trash Panda, making real art out of the detritus he finds in this exact moment of cultural rot. A couple of heavy-handed lines aside, this is such a precise 2026 vibe.

Riley Downing'a "Landfill Poetry" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 13/10/2026

Tigirlily Gold, ... & Midwestern (***1/2): They sing well and know their way around a hook, and their writing showcases a distinct POV and that it's possible to take pride in your country origin story without being an ass about it. As ever, they'd elevate radio w their wit and lutefisk references.

Tigirlily Gold's "Country & Midwestern" album cover.

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S. Crow, Pick You Up (**1/2): ... That's it? She's been coasting for quite a while, but this scant set, billed as a full album and not an EP, trades her usual wit and firepower for the most greige production and banal lyricism of modern Americana. Which, yes, includes the dreadful J. Welles collab.

Sheryl Crow's "Pick You Up" album cover.

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G. Adcock, ... Hang it Up (*): Having positioned himself as Music Row's latest Heel, he's now trying to speedrun Wallen's career arc. So here's his attempt at an "I'm the Problem": 1000 years long, feigned reflection, no actual capacity for growth or impetus to change a damn thing, and lacking...

Gavin Adcock's "The Day I Hang It Up" album cover.

Oh, no. That thing when your album's so reviled that you have to pull-quote the same source twice to fill out your Grammy FYC campaign.

Grammy FYC ad for Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl album, which was reviewed so poorly that two of the three pull-quotes are from the same absurdly hyperbolic Rolling Stone review.

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L. Watkins, ... Honest (**): The title lands ironic on her 3rd album in 3 years. Her promising debut captured a clear-eyed POV, which her follow-up jettisoned for overtly Tradwife-coded aspirations. Now, every track alternates between aping the lyrical styles, songwriting tropes, and even vocal...

Lauren Watkins' "If I'm Being Honest" album cover.

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C. Wayne & HTM, Diamond Saloon (****1/2): Tremendous. Aesthetically, they make it perhaps too easy to dismiss what they're up to as mere bait for genre purists, but there is a very real sense of disruption and real skill in how they throw in some unexpected and effective improvisational flourishes.

Chasen Wayne & The Honky-Tonk Machine's "Diamond Saloon" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 05/10/2026

L.K. Booth, ... Heart (***1/2): This record showcases the fearlessness of Booth's songwriting and her unconventional POV. The production doesn't match that energy on a consistent basis, though: Many of these tracks owe an obvious sonic debt to Swift's folklore/evermore, which is a mismatched vibe.

Laci Kaye Booth's "Love Ain't for the Faint of Heart" album cover.

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Just Jayne, A Lil More Jayne (*1/2): "A Little Bit Alexis" as a pop-country album, with no one in on the joke. Just dreadful.

Just Jayne's "A Lil More Jayne" album cover.

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Wynonna, The Hard Truth (*****): She's spent her entire career to date-- which is to say, the majority of her life-- surrounded by people who were more interested in what her formidable skills could do for them than in how they could help her live as and express her authentic self. As she...

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Sad Daddy, Ozark Shine (**1/2): They're a talented lot in terms of musicianship and songcraft, but the schtick too often skews condescending to the source material, like an old-timey stringband version of Southern Culture on the Skids if SCotS weren't actually in on the jokes. Hoping I just misread.

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L. Rothman, ... Stardust (****): One of the most gifted singers in the modern country / Americana space, Rothman digs deeper than ever on their fifth and finest album. This is a difficult listen, as Rothman reckons with how experiences of grief, addiction and recovery, and heartbreak have shaped...

Lawrence Rothman's "Here Lies Love / Sawdust to Sawdust" album cover.

152 5

Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 02/10/2026

Shires, Bonfire (**): Two exceptionally lovely voices arranged in thoughtful and intricate harmonies, singing banal, cliché-ridden lyrics over slick pop-country production so dull it would lull Lady [Redacted] to sleep. Pretty, vapid.

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M. Lambert, Crisco (***): During her peerless regal era, her albums were comprised of songs that reflected both a POV and caliber of songcraft that were singularly and identifiably hers. She may be too talented to deliver a truly bad album-- this isn't-- but, don't look now, it's been a full...

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 02/10/2026

K. Chesney, ... Marina (***): His limited technical skill and inconsistent taste in material and collaborators-- Lily Meola's here, but so is Moroney-- means this is right at his ceiling. Per usual, the best tracks lean into the cragginess of his aged voice and look beyond his beachcomber persona.

Kenny Chesney's "Silver Sands Marina" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 01/10/2026

C. Fisher, ... Night (****1/2): Fisher has long been a craftsman in every sense of the term, but there is both a mastery and purity to his work on this collection that reflects a refinement of his considerable skills. The album is just Fisher, his guitar, and his uncommonly lovely singing voice.

Conrad Fisher's "Songs I Sing All Night" album cover.

Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 01/10/2026

J. Oladokun, Hope... (****): Burnt out from her time in the Americana space, one of the most empathetic songwriters of her generation looks to the past to find sources of inspiration for a better way forward. The adult-pop arrangements skew a bit anodyne, but her writing and singing remain vital.

Joy Oladokun's "Hope is a Heavy Thing" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 01/10/2026

B. Dove, Fortune Teller (****): A prime example of how traditional country forms can still be used to tell contemporary stories, this record stands as a leveling-up for Dove in terms of their command of narrative and genre. A couple of extra takes to iron out some pitchiness would have been...

Bobby Dove's "Fortune Teller" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 30/09/2026

Lord, the mental gymnastics some of her diehards did after the inauguration to try to say she isn't who she is.

Marsha Blackburn posts to IG, "Such a pleasure talking with Carrie Underwood and her husband during our lunch..."

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 30/09/2026

From *2024*. Not that a lot of people On Here want to read takes about country music from people who know what they're talking about and have been attempting to do the actual work: www.countryuniverse.net/2025/01/21/t...

So they found new audiences to distract, and they doubled-down in 2024. Courting the white, Southern "state college" demographic proved lucrative. Bailey Zimmerman staged his absolutely horrific CMA performance like a literal frat party, complete with a beer pong table and a creepy old dude in a sleeveless shirt who had no business being around college kids. Megan Moroney's entire persona is of a sorority girl who's punching down at people she sees as beneath her in one way or another. And what could be more endemic to Music Row than going all-in on institutions that uphold patriarchal white supremacy? The only surprise is that it took them this long to recognize the collegiate Greek system as a potential cash cow.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 30/09/2026

Not that national-level pundits ever listen to people Actually From Here, a map of KY6 since 2023 redraw that further eroded the influence of bright-blue Lex (the state's 2nd-largest pop center) and purple Richmond and G-town by pulling in that deep-red NE wing. *BIG* for us to be "leaning" R.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 29/09/2026

[slow clap] Best way On Here to remain willfully incurious about a subject is to Main Character dogpile someone who's an actual published authority on that subject until they're no longer On Here. But some white men felt *scolded*, so...

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 27/09/2026

I. Noe, ... Band (****1/2): Concluding his trilogy of E KY tributes with a full-on concept album speaks to Noe's uncommon ambition and skill. What impresses most about this record is the depth of Noe's world-building: It's less about that dreaded "authenticity" than about believability and honest...

Ian Noe's "Canyon Falls Trailer Band" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 27/09/2026

The hit dogs are really hollerin' on here today. Christ.

Someone quote replied, making an argument that in no way counters what I actually said.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 26/09/2026

P. LaFarge, Rent Money (***): Have never been convinced that he understands what "schtick" really entails, and this does nothing to challenge that perception. Maybe a bit more meat to the songwriting here than has been his norm, but that's not exactly the highest ceiling. It's fine for what it is.

Pokey LaFarge's "Rent Money" album cover.

Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 26/09/2026

K. Pruitt, ... Fleeting (****): The arrangements aren't quite as sharp here as on her last record, but her singing and writing absolutely are. Hers is a unique skill set: No one is better at unpacking complex (religious, queer, social) trauma histories with such moral clarity or such *songcraft*.

Katie Pruitt's "Fools for the Fleeting" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 26/09/2026

J. Scott & High Heat, Play Boy (****1/2): Lord, every second of this absolutely *rips*. And if we're seeing acts like Flatland Cavalry and Muscadine Bloodline making mainstream inroads, then there's honestly no reason why this crew's perfectly crafted, clever country-rock shouldn't do the same.

Jason Scott & The High Heat's "Play Boy" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 25/09/2026

A good 9 to 5 Day to all y'all, from Lego Dolly.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 24/09/2026

D. Baldridge, FFF (**): A couple of years back, he had a viral hit that turned into an actual radio hit that was noteworthy for taking the stance, far too novel for country radio this century, that women are people. So it's noteworthy, too, that this album has a song that directly addresses...

Drew Baldridge's "FARM FAITH FAMILY" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 23/09/2026

D. Seals, ... Last Duet (****): With both Easy Listening and early 80s pop-country having a moment of re-evaluation, why shouldn't an artist like Seals capitalize and get some late-career flowers? The roster of collaborators on this is *deranged* in the best ways: Vince Gill, Suzy Bogguss, and...

Dan Seals' "Dan Seals & Friends: The Last Duet" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 22/09/2026

T. Hannah, Love It... (***1/2): Love the distinctive point of view in her writing and the effortless cool of her retro vibe; even in an era of throwback artists, her style stands apart. Could leave the relatively thin vocals, though she does clear most contemporary bars. Definitely one to watch.

Tony Hannah's "Love it or Leave It" album cover.

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Country Universe @countryuniverse.net · 22/09/2026

Whole lot of people on here today who don't follow either us or our Don't Rock The Inbox pals play-acting like they have informed opinions about country music.

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O. Peck, Mule (*****): On which our masked hero drops the equestrian iconography of his past albums and embraces a different sort of beast. Mules are known both for their strength and their incorrigible stubbornness, and those are the two traits that carry Peck through every step of this...

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J. Tolman, Music City Mutt (***): The title alludes to the fact that she's more of a stylistic dilettante at this point than someone with a cohesive identity as an artist. She has a solid enough singing voice, too, but she also squanders a lot of goodwill on an utterly retrograde duet w G. Wilson.

Jenny Tolman's "Music City Mutt" album cover.

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R. Giddens, ... Feathers (****1/2): The rough-hewn production on this album splits the difference between last year's bareknuckled collab with Justin Robinson and her more polished recent solo work, and it may be the sweetest spot in which to capture her certified Genius-level gifts. For years...

Rhiannon Giddens' "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" album cover.

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