Put A Record On: Anthems for a better world

(and a little sh*t kicking' country, too)

Welcome back to Don’t Rock the Inbox! Here’s this week’s music recommendation post and playlist, which are for paying subscribers only. Subscribe to get access to all our new (and old) music picks and pans, and so much more — including new playlists weekly, which are always at the bottom of this email (paying subscribers — make sure you don’t miss them!). If you’re interested in paid content but not able to afford it, shoot us an email.

Photo: Travys Owen

The Good

Owls, Omens and Oracles, Valerie June: Goodness, do we need this album now. A luminary of the music offering a collection of anthems for a better world. "If you're on the couch and you're feeling alone," she sings on "Endless Tree," "may you feel moved after hearing this song." And if you're confused about the rootsy album's genre-agnosticism, you'll find some clarity on the Memphis-bred singer's "My Life Is A Country Song" which literally includes the line "Country music, it don't need to be saved" (!!!). We are so lucky to have a persistently original truth-teller working among us. Bless and keep you, Valerie (sincere version, not sarcastic Southern version!). — NW

“Well Well Whiskey,” Dierks Bentley: I think Dierks may finally have found the formula? We know he can do the bluegrass sound so well (see: Up On the Ridge) but also rakes in mainstream audiences. This meets in the middle…a little for the pickers, a little for the country radio crowd, suits him perfectly? Hope the whole album sits here. - MM

"Life Behind Bars," Vandoliers: Three cheers for everybody's favorite red dirt cowpunks, Vandoliers! Their new single and album (which, full disclosure, I wrote the bio for) takes their usual fearlessness to a new place, chronicling frontwoman Jenni Rose's journey to coming out as a trans woman with all their usual unmatched energy and verve. The song's central metaphor, in which incarceration, working in the service industry, being a band moving from bar to bar, and struggling with your gender identity are all fruit of the same restrictive tree, shows a new level of vulnerability for the veteran North Texas band; we love you Jenni and we love you Vandoliers! — NW [Just chiming in to say Vandoliers forever! - MM]

“My Crazy,” Ashley Ryan: Kind of the definition of a barn-burning country love song? Also love the line “domestication was collecting dust on the shelf”! - MM