Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lav: Before the mid-year point of 2024 I'm trying to catch up on some records I've been meaning to cover. Waxahatchee is up next after her new record somehow slipped through the cracks with me in a busy week earlier this year. I've been a fan of her music for a LONG time on albums like American Weekend  and Ivy Tripp . While I was surprised to not particularly enjoy her breakthrough album Saint Cloud , I was much more positive towards her Jess Williamson collaboration Plains and some of the singles from this record. That's why it's no surprise that I came away from this record with mostly positive feelings.  Let's start with the only place we can start, the lead single Right Back To It . The gorgeous swaying number features some of Katie's best vocals and refrains ever with subtle but impactful additions from MJ Lenderman. It's genuinely one of the best songs I've heard this year and I think it's among Katie's best songs ever.  That...

Okay so I'm getting a late start to the year at least on the blog. I woke up one day this week and realized I had somehow just kind of forgotten the weekly segment I've done on here for years. So there's been three weeks of the new year so far and quite a few high-profile songs released, these are the 10 best. 10.  Right Back To It  - Waxahatchee (feat. MJ Lenderman) Fresh off a breakthrough year for Wednesday, MJ Lenderman teams up for a supporting contribution to Waxahatchee's new song, and boy does it go over well. The pair aren't exactly charting new ground stylistically but Katie's vocals are somehow even more infectious than ever before and the woozy folk instrumental palette is still a near perfect fit.  Listen 9.  J Christ  - Lil Nas X Much like Doja Cat did last year with Paint The Town Red , Lil Nas X is leaning into his most controversial instincts. I think he ended up with a pretty catchy song which keeps up the line of his short and incredibly infec...

I Walked With You A Ways  - Plains Plains is the new collaborative project of Waxahatchee aka Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson and it just felt like it was gonna be good. It's hard to explain exactly why because it's not like the singles were completely blowing me away or anything. It just seemed like a half hour of good country folk music from these two would do great things for the soul, and that's exactly what happened. The images you might be conjuring of country folk aren't even the limitations of this record anyway, while there are plenty of wonderful harmonizing and forlorn metaphors the second track is a ripping rock song with a guitar solo bridge that doesn't sound out of place at all in the tracklist. The record is just remarkably consistent with a sonic palette that is simple but rewarding and vocal performances that shine throughout. I wouldn't even say it reminds me of some older Waxahatchee projects that I liked quite a bit for how much her vo...

Waxahatchee is the Alabama based indie folk project of singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield. She has been a persistent voice in indie music over the past decade since first breaking out with her 2013 sophomore record Cerulean Salt . She found even more success on her most recent fourth record Out In The Storm  back in 2017 but with an EP and a handful of singles leading up to her fifth record she showed a move towards a more country inspired track. Review By Lavender: Despite the fact that I've never really considered Waxahatchee one of the premiere songwriters of modern indie music I have enjoyed her pretty consistently good output over the past ten years or so. Records like Cerulean Salt  and Out In The Storm  won't blow your mind but they will probably come together to make some of the most consistent singer-songwriter records you'll hear as of recent. After not really enjoying the country twist that Katie's last EP had and having mixed feelings towards the sin...