In this week’s best new country roundup, Megan Moroney and Mackenzie Carpenter combine their musical talents, trio Lady A returns with a heartfelt new ballad, while Emily Ann Roberts teams with Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs for a sterling track from her new project.
Megan Moroney feat. Mackenzie Carpenter, “Nothin’ Crazy”
These two strong female singer-songwriters mesh their talents on this quirky tale of a woman enamored with a new lover. While she tells her potential suitor that she’s playing it cool, little does he know that she’s secretly got a Pinterest board filled with wedding ideas. She’s imagining him popping the question and she’s already picking out baby names — ya know, nothing too out there.
Moroney’s debut album Lucky is filled with clever turns of phrases and well thought-out songcraft, and the trio of new songs she adds to her deluxe version of the album (including this one) further her reputation as one of country music’s fastest-growing new artists.
Sam Barber, “Til I Return”
Barber’s emotionally tactile brand of music has steadily been garnering attention, thanks to songs including “Straight and Narrow.” “I’d be an awful company man/ He’s gettin’ rich while I get callused hands,” Barber sings on his new melancholy, fiddle-spiked track, oscillating between eviscerating greedy corporations and championing wanderlust and blue-collar work. Still, the song leans more toward personal than political, and is included on Barber’s debut EP, Million Eyes.
Lady A, “Love You Back”
This mandolin-inflected ballad oozes regret and wistfulness as they work to eschew the past, realizing the detrimental impact focusing on the best memories of a long-dissolved relationship has on the present. The honey-voiced Scott and soulful singer Kelley trade off lead vocals, infusing the song with the hope of creating a new set of memories. “Love You Back” was written by James McNair, Lindsay Rimes and Emily Weisband.
Emily Ann Roberts, “Still Searching”
The teardrop twang in Tennessee native Roberts’s plangent voice is reminiscent of Lee Ann Womack on this elegantly brooding track about searching for love. This gorgeous ballad brims with aching fiddle and is slathered in steel guitar, while her collaborators — Country Music Hall of Fame members Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs — are no slouches, either. The song is found on Roberts’s new project, Can’t Hide Country, which offers an amalgam of retro-country, bluegrass and folk leanings and contemporary songwriting.
Wyatt Flores, “West of Tulsa”
Oklahoma native Flores is one in a surge of new artists making unvarnished singer-songwriter fare, counter-culture to the polished, pop-informed country music mainstream.
“Maybe she’s just here because I sang some f–king song,” Flores sings, his grainy and soulful voice conveying the highs, lows and insecurities of chasing love on the road. He wrote this gem with Nashville mainstay writers Billy Montana and Chris Gelbuda.
