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Margo Price – ‘Strays’ review

Margo Price creates music to get lost into. Six minutes in and I’ve already let go of any pent-up cares as the music pours into my soul. 

If Canyon Country music is a genre, then Margo Price is the fearless bus driver guiding music fans through a deep appreciation of the sonic landscape with new album ‘Strays’, released on Loma Vista Recordings and produced by Price and Jonathan Wilson. Price’s Americana vocals are as distinctive as Emmylou Harris or Nanci Griffith. 

Strays opens with the epic ‘Been To The Mountain’, and the lyrics, “I’ve got nothing to prove I’ve got nothing to sell, I’m not buying what you’ve got”, a driving 70s guitar sound as the backdrop, ensures honesty doesn’t come more clearer than on this five and a half minute song.  

Follow up song, ‘Light Me Up’, another effortless five minutes of music, offering hope alongside an enigmatic drum-based wall of sound. The track also features Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers) and no doubt returning the assist that Price offered on his State of Mind song and video last August.  

A hat trick of one of the best openers, to any album, is complete with ‘Radio’, featuring Sharon Van Etten.  At just under two and a half minutes, this is the second shortest song on the ten track album. The synth surprise works brilliantly with the vocal delivery of, “I think I need to take some time out and I want to turn my phone off.  I just want to be alone, let me be alone today….people try to push me around….I tune them out and I turn them way down low…the only thing I have on is the radio”. Easily an on-repeat track.  

The blues-based ‘Change of Heart’, dives deep into relationship decisions, with some incredible guitar hooks. A piano and a kick drum join Price on the delectable six minute ballad, ‘County Road’ as we hit the halfway mark on Strays.  

The second half of the album brings the psychedelia of canyon exploration, a musically confident trip through a dedication to expression through art, peaking with the haunting story of ‘Lydia’. Price continues to grow Canyon Country Music with Strays, carrying on the sound developed by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris in the Mojave Desert’s Joshua Tree National Park of the ‘70s. 

In October Price released her much-anticipated debut memoir, ‘Maybe We’ll Make It’, on University of Texas Press. An early review from Willie Nelson pitched a story that, “hits you right in the gut – and the heart – just like her songs”. A US tour followed; come on back to the UK anytime, Margo, and bring your warmth.  

Margo Price
Credit: Loma Vista Recordings

Track Listing: 1. Been to the Mountain 2. Light Me Up (ft. Mike Campbell) 3. Radio (ft Sharon Van Etten) 4. Change of Heart 5. County Road 6. Time Machine 7. Hell in the Heartland 8. Anytime You Call (ft Lucius) 9. Lydia 10. Landfill. Record Label: Loma Vista Recordings Release Date: January 13th Buy ‘Strays’ now

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Margo Price creates music to get lost into. Six minutes in and I’ve already let go of any pent-up cares as the music pours into my soul.  If Canyon Country music is a genre, then Margo Price is the fearless bus driver guiding music fans...Margo Price - 'Strays' review