Country Lines

Lambchop seem like one the most domesticated bands around. Maybe it’s because their sound, despite the fullness that comes from so many members, retains its subtlety and subdued complexity with the loose feel of a pick-up band among friends. Or maybe it’s because in songs such as “Nashville Parent” and “The New Cobweb Summer,” singer / lyricist Kurt Wagner always seems to be wandering his house, thinking deep thoughts about dogs and sponges, and doling wryly homespun wisdom like some brilliantly addled Lewis Grizzard. He finds inspiration in such housebound activities as walking the dog, verbally sparring with the missus, and drinking in the backyard. In a sense, this is the flipside of the typical country concerns of cheating spouses and barstool life, playing up not the heartache that haunts most songs, but the mundanity of the day-to-day grind that everyone faces—as well as the small particulars that make it worthwhile.

Though Michael Feinstein remained in the public eye throughout the latter half of the 2010s, performing live and appearing intermittently as a presenter on the Turner Classic Movies network, the onetime Ira Gershwin archivist went nearly a decade without releasing any albums. It was his first gap of more than two years since his 1987 studio debut, Pure Gershwin. He comes back to key influences George and Ira Gershwin, for more than the first time, on his return, 2022's Gershwin Country. A set of 11 duets, each with different guests, it navigates timeless romantic ballads and what prove to be playfully old-fashioned, vaudeville-esque takes with giants of country music (and one with album executive producer Liza Minnelli).

If there’s one lesson to be gleaned from Jaime Wyatt’s latest album, Neon Cross, it’s that life goes on. And through it all - good times and bad, dreaming and desperation, there is truth. When it came to capturing that truth on tape, Wyatt had some assistance from Shooter Jennings, who produced Neon Cross. Together, she and Jennings boldly colour out- side the country lines, taking a wide-lens sonic and stylistic approach to the songs on Neon Cross.