Put a Record On: Nobody's Girls
Welcome back to Don’t Rock the Inbox. Here’s this week’s music recommendation post and playlist, which are for paying subscribers only. If you’re interested in paid content but not able to afford it, shoot us an email.
The Good
Nobody's Girl, Amanda Shires: I first listened to this album when I was driving to Lubbock to interview Amanda for this Texas Monthly piece — an interview that wound up taking a whole afternoon, and involving Amanda driving my trash-strewn car around her hometown (lol). It was a stunning listen, with Shires laying out her heartbreak in quite plainspoken terms over the course of its 13 songs. Even by her own raw, evocative standard, this album cuts deep; Isbell fans, well…might not love a lot of what they hear. Aesthetically, the words come first — the country comes in the three chords and the truth sense. I'm honored that I got a shot to tell Amanda's story, but it was hard to compete with the way she tells it herself on this album. — NW
[Chiming in here to add to the Amanda Shires fandom - she's been kind enough to support us here at Don't Rock the Inbox, too, participating in one of our first-ever live Zoom events, where we had a really candid conversation: in fact, every conversation we've ever had with Amanda for my book, this newsletter, or, Natalie's fantastic piece in Texas Monthly, she's always been candid, because she expresses herself exactly how she wants to. Anyway, this album is a gorgeous piece of art. And to those Jason Isbell fans Natalie mentioned above - I point you to what Amanda said in another great piece by our friend Alison in Bustle: "I hope that he would respect me for using my voice," and you can respect it, too. But even more importantly: if you are trying to "choose a side" and getting caught up more in the personal details than the underlying message of the art then, honey, I'm going to have you sit down when I tell you that you are having a parasocial relationship with celebrities, and it's time to just listen to the music instead.] - MM
"Dyslexic Palindrome," Bright Eyes featuring Hurray for the Riff Raff: As good of a combination as you'd hope - and I always feel like Conor should get so much more credit than he does for weaving in Americana and country sounds long before it was popular (see: bringing in Emmylou). - MM
