The incredible Ashley Monroe returns with her unique blend of country and Americana on her sixth solo album this coming Friday. Her first new long-form release in four years, it has a lot of hype surrounding it. I’ve been a fan of her a few years at this point, but have to admit generally I’m more familiar with her Pistol Annies work. So, it’ll be cool to hop into a full solo album and see what it’s like. It’s 17-track so is pretty long, but I’m sure there’ll be a lot to love!
A surprisingly ominous intro opens up the album and track ‘I’m Gonna Run’, it almost feeling a touch horror-esque before Ashley’s vocals come in over the top. Still, it almost has a bit of a Sinners vibe to it. It’s definitely country, but heavy on the gospel too. It’s awesome, and a great showcase of her vocal ability immediately. It also leads perfectly into the wonderfully chilled ‘Risen Road’. It gives off big vibes of Julian Taylor or ??, in the best way. It also gives slight Primal Scream vibes, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. And it all builds perfectly into a big, catchy chorus packed full of great vocal melodies and harmonies. A simple but great start to the album!
‘Closer’ continues the chilled vibes perfectly, but also has a slight more pop edge to it in places. The synth for the intro and choruses is a great touch and adds so much to the sound without overpowering anything. I hate to lump so much into this weird genre I feel I’ve generated, but it feels like ‘Gilmore Girls music’. And that is hardly a bad thing, it’s just pretty reminiscent of the likes of Paula Cole and Carole King. It once again builds perfectly into a fantastically catchy chorus, again completely with some amazing harmonies. It feels like it’s one that’s going to be stuck in my head for days to come! An easy early highlight track!
The first single is up next, and features country legend Marty Stuart, of all people! It has a little more of a traditional country twang to it because of Marty, and has a little more energy and bounce to it, too. I love Ashley’s vocals over the simple guitar to start, and again it builds perfectly up through a whole two verses and chorus before we get more with the harmonies in the second chorus. It’s a very simply arranged and written song, but fits together and with the album so well. I assume Marty’s contribution was the guitaring, and it would have been cool to also hear his vocals, but either way, it’s still a damn good song!
‘Magnolia’ is another huge highlight track of the album. It’s more of a dark, blues rock track than anything else, again giving off Sinners vibes. It’s a style I am very much into, and Ashley does it fantastically. It also still leads into a very fitting chorus, being somehow the perfectly combination of the track style and the vibe we’ve had from other choruses so far. And heck, we even get an awesome, Slash-esque guitar solo, being a big focus of the track which is always a surprise in country. The whole thing is awesome and definitely one I’d recommend checking out!
‘My Favourite Movie’ brings back the chilled out vibes, going back to the sound of ‘Closer’ again. It’s not a bad track at all, and the strings added a great, almost epic element to everything. However, that and songs like ‘Amen Love’, ‘Moth’, ‘That’s No Way to Say Goodbye’ and ‘Moon Child’ (not a Maiden cover) are all pretty similar in sound and energy. None are in any way bad, but this is a loooong album and there were bound to be repeat ideas, and I simply doing want to repeat myself over and over and make for a boring read! If you’re into the chilled, guitar and vocal centric style, check these out!
An almost pop-punk guitar riff runs through ‘Hot Rod Pipe Dream’. Ashley’s multi-tracked vocals kinda lessen that feel a little, but it still feels a little further from country and pretty fresh. it almost has more of an OLD-school punk vibe to it, which made for a really fun addition to the album, and something pretty left-field! It’s another easy highlight track, and something I hope Ashley considers doing more of moving forward!
‘There You Are’ is a beautiful, piano-based ballad. The emotion is rife thanks to Ashley’s amazing, powerful delivery. It is definitely yet another strong album highlight. Then you have the interesting mixing on ‘You and Me’; it feeling incredibly old-school with the vocals being so far back and grainy. It’s an interesting choice for sure, but works for the track and again helps it stand out against other similar but slightly less-interesting songs.
The other four tracks on the release all have various guest features on them, and all utilise them rather differently. The single featuring Brittney Spencer has some attitude and swing to it, almost having a vague hip-hop edge to it. It’s another fun song, and still has a slightly dark edge, both Ashley and Brittney’s vocals working so well together! Meanwhile ‘Recover’ with Karen Fairchild and ‘Blown Away’ with Brendan Benson are more like the style of a lot of the rest of the album. Still, both women and Benson all work perfectly together, and produce two great, slightly rockier/gospel songs! Then the final track of the album, with the awesome Armand Hutton, goes full on gospel, organ and all. While I’m not hugely into the message behind the song, there is no denying musically and from a writing perspective it’s fantastic. It’s amazing that she has gotten so maybe incredible guests to feature on this album, and all impress as they are different to the last!
Overall: I enjoyed this album! Yes, it was certainly a touch long, and there are a few songs that feel a touch repetitive. However, none of the songs are bad, and there are some honestly career highlight tracks scattered among the release. Ashley’s vocals and lyric writing are both on point as usual, and I’ll certainly be revisiting a lot of this a fair bit in the coming weeks and months. A must for any fans of the more chilled-out side of country music!
The Score: 8/10