Oklahoma’s newest country artist, Wyatt Flores, releases his eagerly anticipated debut album, Welcome To The Plains, via Island Records, and it is a stunning tribute to self-discovery as well as home and ancestors. Full of wry observations and hope, these plaintive 14 tracks will transport you to a new kind of traditional, earthy, rural-leaning country sound.
Produced by Beau Bedford (Orville Peck, Shane Smith & The Saints) the album highlights Flores’ journey as he balances the struggle of leaving his hometown of Stillwater, Oklahoma with the highs and lows of life on the road and features songwriting collaborations with Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor and Aaron Raitiere.
The album opens with the title track ‘Welcome to The Plains’ a powerful, charged song, announcing Flores’ arrival as a rising artist to watch. The song builds momentum into a swinging western landscape that sounds like Flores has been around longer than his twenty-something years.
The second track, ‘When I Die’, dives into haunting imagery around the final journey we take, providing comfort in the deft, quirky lyrics, comparing death to sleeping. The ballad showcases Flores unique vocal register which simultaneously presents vulnerability and a self-assured depth, echoed by a steel guitar, fiddle and keys.
One of the most on-repeat songs is ‘Oh Susanna’ a sweeping ballad of accepting you can’t always help others, no matter how much you want to, thanks to the poignant refrains “why did I believe I could save you darling, without killing me?” and “I was the problem, only tried to be the cure”.
‘Don’t Wanna Say Goodnight’ is a runaway wagon of a track, constant in the big guitar and percussion sound of a 19th Century band of riders kicking up the dust of a vast landscape. Another rousing chorus anthem which is a pure treat to hear live, though I need a rest after hearing this much music. Thankfully, ‘Forget Your Voice’ has a similar constant drive, though with a gentler sound and we’re drawn to a slower pace for the second half of the album.
‘Angels Over You’ is a beautiful ballad full of heart and steel guitar, demonstrating Flores’ connection with the hardship of this life and the hope provided by the afterlife. Community life and love is examined in the mid-tempo ‘Little Town’ while ‘Stillwater’ offers a contemporary insight into American College life, capturing the contrast between four-year tourists and local boys.
The album closer, ‘The Good Ones’, is the perfect end to an hour of vivid, atmospheric music, celebrating a glass raised to lost loved ones, and an acknowledgement of the spirits watching over us.
Flores’ three previous EPs, including ‘Half Life,' which was released earlier this spring has received widespread critical attention. Additionally, Flores is nominated for Emerging Act of the Year at the 2024 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards, was named one of Rolling Stone’s 25 “Future of Music” artists, selected as Amazon’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year, included in Spotify’s Hot Country Class of 2024 and CMT’s Listen Up class, and made his Grand Ole Opry debut earlier this year. His song “Before I Do” with Jake Kohn featured on the soundtrack for the new Twisters movie.
This is a confident debut album, with Flores an engaging, enthusiastic performer, as evidenced by his UK debut at iconic Long Road festival. We can’t wait to welcome Wyatt back, at Country to Country festival in 2025 where he will be making his festival debut to an eager crowd.
Track listing: 1. Welcome To The Plains 2. When I Die 3. Oh Susannah 4. Only Thing Missing Is You 5. Don’t Wanna Say Goodnight 6. Habits 7. Right Here with You 8. The Truth 9. Forget Your Voice 10. Angels Over You 11. Little Town 12. Stillwater 13. Falling Sideways 14. The Good Ones Record Label: Island Records Release Date: 18th October Buy ‘Welcome to the Plains' right here
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