Dolly Parton made history at the 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, cementing her improbable status as the ultimate crossover chameleon despite her largely genre-orthodox catalogue. Not one to be left in the dust, the elder icon's heir to genre-melding Americana has staked a claim of her own — Margo Price has followed up her acclaimed albums Midwest Farmer's Daughter and That's How Rumors Get Started with Strays, an early contender for one of 2023's best albums and a bonafide country classic in the making.
Price rocks out harder than Dolly with a star-studded guest list. Roping in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' right hand man Mike Campbell on the seismic, tone shifting "Light Me Up," what begins as a softly strummed, Stevie Nicks-esque ballad lurches into an uptempo stomp, leaving the listener to toe tap excitedly on its ever-shifting ground. Sharon Van Etten, whose legacy towers over contemporary indie rock, is featured on the synth imbued "Radio," which drones and sputters with twang and electronica.
Then there's Price's collaboration with Lucius on "Anytime You Call," featuring a squealing guitar solo that's sure to lodge in the back of your mind long after the song has run its course. The track's moaning background vocals and rollicking piano evoke vintage waltzes that predate even the outlaw country that Price and her millennial contemporaries have built upon with such aplomb.
Impressive as those eclectic contributions are, Price does just fine knocking down the confines of country on her own on Strays (it's no wonder Willie Nelson sings her praises while the Nashville establishment fails to give her proper due). Arguably Strays' best track, "Time Machine" grooves with a rhythm section that revels in funky delight, evoking flashy leather apparel with seams that squeak a tune while hugging your frame. If that's the result of the shroom-fueled writing sessions that reportedly kicked off Strays, let's hope Price keeps on tripping.
Her lyrics are all the more boundary pushing on Strays, supplying a gritty, pared-down counterpoint to the lavish music. "I've been on food stamps, I've been out of my mind" Price brays on "Been to the Mountain," while her descriptions of gentrification on "Lydia" will make you feel like you're the one being paved over. Capturing that marginalization with such brevity is one of Strays' greatest accomplishments, and it's all in the spirit of her Americana forebear Kris Kristofferson, who, with plainspoken poetry, mined The Grapes of Wrath for his lyrics about rural poverty on the classic "Here Comes That Rainbow Again." Price builds on that, penning equally deep odes to the disenfranchised that are entirely her own.
From the empathetic lyrics to the innovative eclecticism, Margo Price has stitched a musical coat of many colours with Strays. And it's a perfect fit for this troubled age.
(Loma Vista)Price rocks out harder than Dolly with a star-studded guest list. Roping in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' right hand man Mike Campbell on the seismic, tone shifting "Light Me Up," what begins as a softly strummed, Stevie Nicks-esque ballad lurches into an uptempo stomp, leaving the listener to toe tap excitedly on its ever-shifting ground. Sharon Van Etten, whose legacy towers over contemporary indie rock, is featured on the synth imbued "Radio," which drones and sputters with twang and electronica.
Then there's Price's collaboration with Lucius on "Anytime You Call," featuring a squealing guitar solo that's sure to lodge in the back of your mind long after the song has run its course. The track's moaning background vocals and rollicking piano evoke vintage waltzes that predate even the outlaw country that Price and her millennial contemporaries have built upon with such aplomb.
Impressive as those eclectic contributions are, Price does just fine knocking down the confines of country on her own on Strays (it's no wonder Willie Nelson sings her praises while the Nashville establishment fails to give her proper due). Arguably Strays' best track, "Time Machine" grooves with a rhythm section that revels in funky delight, evoking flashy leather apparel with seams that squeak a tune while hugging your frame. If that's the result of the shroom-fueled writing sessions that reportedly kicked off Strays, let's hope Price keeps on tripping.
Her lyrics are all the more boundary pushing on Strays, supplying a gritty, pared-down counterpoint to the lavish music. "I've been on food stamps, I've been out of my mind" Price brays on "Been to the Mountain," while her descriptions of gentrification on "Lydia" will make you feel like you're the one being paved over. Capturing that marginalization with such brevity is one of Strays' greatest accomplishments, and it's all in the spirit of her Americana forebear Kris Kristofferson, who, with plainspoken poetry, mined The Grapes of Wrath for his lyrics about rural poverty on the classic "Here Comes That Rainbow Again." Price builds on that, penning equally deep odes to the disenfranchised that are entirely her own.
From the empathetic lyrics to the innovative eclecticism, Margo Price has stitched a musical coat of many colours with Strays. And it's a perfect fit for this troubled age.
