Our The Songs of the Week column looks at the best new songs of the past seven days and the most notable releases. Find our new favorites and more in our The best songs on Spotify playlist and other great songs from emerging artists, check out our New Spotify sounds Playlist. This week, a closer look at the state of country music releases from Kacey Musgraves and more.
News and updates:
What do you need to go to the countryside?
It seems like everyone is making the jump to country these days, and it's not hard to see why: As more and more people realize how profitable this corner of the music business can be, artists of all genres are throwing their cowboy hats into the ring. The latest to make that jump is Machine Gun Kelly, who has shortened his name to mgk for his most recent genre change.
Unfortunately, “Lonely Roads,” despite featuring the best efforts of artist Jelly Roll, isn’t great. The interpolation of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” feels at odds with mgk’s vocal tone, who can’t seem to shake the shadows of his pop-punk era. mgk is from Texas, yes, but it takes more than a zip code to sound at home in country music, and while we can’t all be as closeted as Beyoncé, “Lonely Roads” feels a bit more like someone jumping on a fashion trend than a love letter to dusty back roads. (I’d rather give mgk a chance to hear the 1998 track.) Cover by Zach Bryan (A spin today; even if it doesn't eclipse the raw, quiet honesty of the original, it suits it rather better.) — Maria Siroky
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Go Mad
There's always been a bit of frenetic energy at the heart of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. Their relentless approach to songwriting (and commitment to never repeating the same thing) helps ground their wild experiments in ways that are more engaging than overwhelming. Such is the case with “Hog Calling Contest,” the second single from their upcoming 26th (!) album, Flight b741.
The Gizz can be dark and brooding, and as they've proven on their heavier releases, their sound can be impenetrably dense. But on “Hog Calling Contest,” the Australian quintet opts for a country dance that's acid-filled, fast-paced and very fun. The band employs dense harmonies without much space between notes, but the vocals end up being less important than the twangy, unnerving guitar work of Stu Mackenzie and Joey Walker.
It's a bluesier turn for the group, especially given their more experimental, synth-heavy and/or heavy metal trajectory of late. Still, it proves that King Gizzard can take any style, any atmosphere, any moment (a literal pig-calling contest, for example) and make it sound entirely their own. Everyone's favorite chameleons have transformed once again, and make rolling around in a muddy barnyard sound like a blast. Paul Ragusa
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