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In this week’s stack of new country releases, Carly Pearce welcomes Chris Stapleton on a scorching breakup ballad, Tim McGraw and Brad Paisley further tease upcoming albums with new tracks, while Dan Tyminski offers his first full-fledged bluegrass album in over a decade.

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Carly Pearce feat. Chris Stapleton, “We Don’t Fight Anymore”

The devastatingly deep, bone-cutting honesty in Pearce’s album 29: Written in Stone, which centered on the dissolution of her marriage and a painful divorce, elevated Pearce’s career and acclaim as an artist and writer — catapulting her into the realm of multi-award winner, earning accolades from the Grammys, CMAs and ACMs. On her latest, written with Shane McAnally and Pete Good, Pearce returns to the realm of heartache, though this time, focusing on the slow dulling of love rather than a sharp slice of any betrayal.

“We don’t cuss and we don’t care enough to even hate,” she sings, her lead vocals accented by in-demand collaborator Chris Stapleton’s harmonies, followed by stirring vocal give-and-take. Though fans undoubtedly hoped for more of a true duet between these two superb vocalists, their harmonies wring out every bit of desperation and regret etched in the lyrics.

Brad Paisley, “So Many Summers”

On his latest release, and in anticipation of his upcoming album Son of the Mountains, Paisley returns to classic form on “So Many Summers,” which he wrote with Ross Copperman and Lee Thomas Miller. This song turns the party vibes and good times up to 10, while offering a steady reminder to wring joy out of every moment while you can — “You only get so many summers.” Paisley is no stranger to blending up-tempo fare with keen lyrics, whether assessing the evolution of global culture on “American Saturday Night” or technological advances on “Welcome to the Future.” But here, he offers the kind of enduring country music fare that steadfastly touches a vein with listeners—most recently with songs such as Texan Cody Johnson’s smash 2022 hit, the CMA Award-winning “’Til You Can’t,” and Tim McGraw’s “Standing Room Only” (not to mention’s McGraw’s 2004 signature “Live Like You Were Dying”).

Tim McGraw, “Hey Whiskey”

Speaking of McGraw, his latest release from his upcoming 17th studio album Standing Room Only, this surefire future Country Music Hall of Famer again asserts his penchant for top-shelf songwriting — this time courtesy of Brad Hutsell, Joel Hutsell and The Warren Brothers (Brad and Brett Warren).

McGraw’s voice is at once mellow and filled with dignified regret, as he chronicles the downward spiral of a young man who increasingly devotes his weekends to liquor to the point of dependency, until reaching an unmistakable realization that he relinquished a storied romance in the process.

Naomi Cooke Johnson, “Girls of Summer”

In 2011, George Strait earned a hit with a track that espoused, “I ain’t here for a long time/ I’m here for a good time.” Former Runaway June lead singer Naomi Cooke Johnson offers her own take on this notion, as she officially makes her solo bow on BBR Music Group/Stoney Creek Records. In “Girls of Summer,” she smartly retains the carefree, female empowerment sentiments that were so prominent in the Runaway June hit “Buy My Own Drinks,” while elevating it extra confidence, her purring voice painting vignettes of girls who “show off tanlines just to tease,” girls whose photos are still hidden in the cowboy hats of the guys they left long before the summer days were over.

Cooke Johnson co-wrote the song with Jason Duke and Jacob Durrett, with Durrett also producing the track.

Dan Tyminski, God Fearing Heathen

Tyminski issues his first bluegrass album in 15 years, following detours into more roots-oriented lanes with 2017’s Southern Gothic, and last year’s Tony Rice tribute project One More Time Before You Go. He offers a stellar bluegrass revision of “Hey Brother,” his 2013 collaboration with the Swedish DJ Avicii. Meanwhile, he teams with Luke Dick (Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves) and Jaida Dreyer to pen “Never Met a Stranger,” a delightful tribute to the freewheeling life of a musician.

But not all of these top-shelf tracks are so light-hearted; he delves into the story of a PTSD-suffering military veteran on “Silence in the Brandy,” and on the title track, muses that heaven is “for the losers and winners/ the hard-livin’, God-fearin’ heathens like me.” The album closes with “Ode to Jimmy,” a rollicking bluegrass scorcher feting Bluegrass Music Hall of Famer Jimmy Martin. Throughout the collection, Tyminski and his band offer expert instrumentation to further elevate this well-crafted set to tracks, spearheaded by Tyminski’s raw, yet smoothly superb, lead vocals.

Pecos and the Rooftops (feat. Kolby Cooper), “Memories”

Texas band Pecos & the Rooftops — which includes vocalist/guitarist Pecos Hurley, guitarists Brandon Jones and Zack Foster, bassist Kalen Davis and drummer Garrett Peltier—previously released their EP Red Eye in 2020 and earned a platinum-certified hit with “This Damn Song.” They return with their debut major label Warner project, The Album, which includes this collaboration with Kolby Cooper.

“Memories” finds Hurley and Cooper trading defiant, growling vocals over thrashing, furious guitar work, as the song muses over being on the better side of an imminent breakup, guaranteeing an ex-lover will remember them at every vulnerable moment.

Taylor Austin Dye, “Bible Belt”

Of late, a few artists including Jelly Roll and Pillbox Patti have become known for crafting country songs that shed light on the struggles, hopes and dreams of an often-overlooked segment of America — those who live in some of the most poverty-stricken places, where addictions and overdoses are a part of life. Kentucky native Taylor Austin Dye offers her own keen-eye perspective with “Bible Belt,” which, on its full-throttle, rock-soaked surface would seem another run-of-the-mill, radio-aimed track.

But lyrically embedded is a tale of poverty and the hard choices made to ensure a woman’s survival, as chronicled through the eyes of her daughter, who watches as her mother navigates cycles of drugs and sex work to cope and live among the slim economic prospects and abundant despair in rural Appalachia. “Born into this fire/ Don’t wanna die here,” she sings, embodying both the unflinching perspective born of a lifetime of poverty but also a merciless determination to rise above and chase a dream of a more stable life. Dye wrote the song with Nicole Croteau and Chris Utley, with Rob Pennington.

The Watson Twins, Holler

Identical twins Chandra and Leigh Watson hail from Kentucky, and issued their largely pop-positioned first project Southern Manners in 2006. While their previous albums have housed country-leaning moments, the duo’s latest album, Holler, delves deeper into their Kentucky roots, most notably on the saloon sizzling shuffle of “Two Timin’,” while on the barroom-ready “Honky Tonk Heart,” the twins lend their electrifying harmonies are embedded with grunge-edged guitars, spritely piano. Throughout the project, they deliver each track with a steely confidence, an abundance of handclaps and folk-pop sensibility.

Women lead the way on Billboard‘s roundup of the best new country music this week, including tracks from Carrie Underwood, Gabby Barrett, and a collab between Lainey Wilson and Lauren Alaina.

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Carrie Underwood, “Take Me Out”

“Sometimes love gets covered up in life,” Underwood sings on her latest track, carrying on with the ’80s-infused synth-pop jams that filled her 2022 album Denim & Rhinestones. On this swirling, atmospheric track, she yearns for a night focused on heart connections rather than daily routines. Underwood is known for her ceiling-scraping, dynamic vocals, but here, she again demonstrates her superb vocal dexterity, lending her voice more to sultry purrs than rafter-rocking belts.

“Take Me Out” is included on the upcoming deluxe version of Denim & Rhinestones, out Sept. 22.

Lainey Wilson with Lauren Alaina, “Thicc as Thieves”

Lauren Alaina welcomes recent ACM Awards victor Lainey Wilson to join her on this body-affirming, friendship-cementing track.

“We’re thicker than our accents, thicker than our hair/ Thicker than the Georgia and Louisiana air,” they sing on this certified banger of a track, while nodding to recent deluge of attention they have each received online recently for their backsides. Alaina and Wilson have fun with the whole situation, even throwing in a line from Luke Bryan’s 2011 hit “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” but the ferocity in their intertwined voices reclaim the booty-shaking command as their own. Full-throttle, empowering and hilarious, this track feels like a summer smash.

Gabby Barrett, “Glory Days”

Dreamy, sleek and groove-soaked, Gabby Barrett’s new release looks to extend the country radio chart-topping success of her previous work, including “The Good Ones” and “I Hope.” Barrett wrote the track with Emily Weisband, Seth Mosley and James McNair. Here, she finds the sacred in the mundane, spilling with gratitude for simple, family-focused moments — watching children playing in the backyard and catching fireflies, or enjoying a quiet morning moment with a good cup of coffee. As usual, her supple voice sings the fire out of this.

Kaylin Roberson, “Fish to Fry”

“The only thing blue is the water,” Roberson sings on this breezy track, making it clear that a fizzled relationship equals more time to spend at the lake — rather than wallowing in heartbreak. Roberson wrote this laid-back, summer-ready gem with Clara Park and Chase McDaniel.

Lewis Brice feat. Lee Brice, “Product Of”

Lewis Brice teams with his brother and fellow singer-songwriter for this Father’s Day-appropriate track, paying homage to their parents’ tender love story. This marks the first collaboration between the musically talented siblings, and their trenchant harmonies elevate the detailed story song. “Product Of” is the title track to Lewis Brice’s upcoming full-length project, out July 28.

Tommy Prine continues etching his own legacy as a singer-songwriter in his latest outing, while Melonie Cannon and Cody Jinks pay tribute to the late Vern Gosdin, and Hannah Dasher offers a gospel-flavored song of grace. Meanwhile, ERNEST and 49 Winchester team for a deliciously bluesy cover of a Willie Nelson classic.

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Tommy Prine, “Cash Carter Hill”

A few nights spent at the Carter Family home offered creative rebirth for Prine; this song originated as a poem he wrote after hiking up a hill behind the home — a poem he later turned into song. “Paint not the picture of another man’s steps,” he sings, as Prine’s new song encapsulates his journey in crafting his own artistic perspective and sound apart from his own famous father’s — the late singer-songwriter John Prine. The track steadily builds from stark acoustics to a full-bodied, gleeful blend of rhythms and electric guitar, led by elegant lyricism. “Cash Carter Hill” will appear on Prine’s debut album, This Far South, out June 23 via Thirty Tigers.

Melonie Cannon and Cody Jinks, “Set ‘Em Up Joe”

On her new album, Cannon pays homage to one of her mentors, the late Vern Gosdin–and she welcomes a slew of collaborators to join in, including Willie Nelson, Vince Gill and Alison Krauss.

Cody Jinks joins on a version of Gosdin’s “Set ‘Em Up Joe,” which served as the second single from Gosdin’s 1988 classic project Chiseled in Stone (and became a No. 1 hit on Billboard‘s Country Songs chart). Cannon’s voice is warm, endearing and nuanced, and pairs nicely with Jinks’s grizzled vocal rendering on this enduring hit that itself pays tribute to another country music luminary, the late Ernest Tubb.

Over the course of her career, Cannon has provided harmonies on recordings by George Jones, Reba McEntire and others, and has vocalized on demo sessions for writers including Dean Dillon and Hank Cochran; this album follows her previous solo outings, a self-titled 2004 project and 2008’s And The Wheels Turn.

Hot Country Knights With Darla McFarland (a.k.a. Dierks Bentley and Lainey Wilson), “Herassmeant”

Mullets, flannel, and aviator glasses are back as Dierks Bentley’s wise-tracking “’90s country group” side project Hot Country Knights returns, fronted by “Doug Douglason” (a.k.a. Bentley). They team up with “’90s country star,” Darla McFarland (a.k.a. recent ACM Awards victor Lainey Wilson) for a hilarious track that simultaneously nods to the current social climate, with lyrics including “I backed up my dump truck, packed all my junk up,” that signal to Wilson’s recent social media viral moments that have focused on Wilson’s physical assets in recent months. The track is one of a pair of new songs from Hot Country Knights, alongside the intentionally Garth Brooks-esque “Midknight Rodeo.”

Hannah Dasher, “Ugly Houses”

As an artist, Dasher is known for her megawatt personality and for crafting zesty tracks. But here, Dasher teams with Robert Arthur to craft this ballad filled with gospel underpinnings, as she sings about finding a faith that involves embracing imperfection and eccentricities. “Well I ain’t no fancy castle/ Got too much junk inside,” she sings, pledging that if a higher power will take a chance on a fixer-upper, she’ll take down the for sale sign. “Ugly Houses” is part of Dasher’s upcoming album The Other D**n Half, out Aug. 4.

Grace Tyler, “Sound of You Gone”

This pensive piano ballad finds Tyler in the depths of grief, desperately seeking ways to bring back a loved one as she catalogs the myriad of little ways that absence is acutely felt — from a leaky faucet that’s not yet fixed to a phone that now is silent. By the song’s bridge, she’s conjuring up any bargain to bring her loved one home. Tyler wrote this stately, atmospheric track with Emily Kroll, Jesse Labelle and Liz Hengber and it intently captures the emotional hallmarks of loss — a timely message for this recent Memorial Day weekend. A superbly resonant outing.

ERNEST and 49 Winchester, “Night Life”

“Flower Shops” hitmaker ERNEST teams with soaring group 49 Winchester for this Spotify Singles release, a cover of the 1960 Willie Nelson hit “Night Life,” which has been covered by everyone from Ray Price and George Jones to Aretha Franklin and B.B. King. This iteration is soaked in tinkling, jazzy piano and tumbling with bluesy guitar melodies and swaggering vocals, as they ponder the road they chose on the key line, “The night life ain’t no good life/ But it’s my life.” The song wraps as they swap ad libs about drinking and doobies on this sterling showcase of freewheeling, homage-paying musicality.

Matt Castillo, “Corazon” (Video)

Castillo’s song “Corazon” is at No. 2 on this week’s Texas Regional Radio Report, and the south Texas native just released an accompanying video clip for the track. Housed on his 2022 project The River Continues, “Corazon” is a dancefloor-ready track, bolstered by surging guitars and flashes of accordion. The lighthearted music belies lyrics that depicting a guy who knows his relationship is ending, but his heart refuses to accept the relationship has fizzled. The music video highlights not only Castillo’s energetic live show, but the growth of his audience as he continues carrying a torch for more traditional-minded country music.

Brian Kelley, “See You Next Summer”

Kelley continues the beach vibes on his latest release. This time around, he offers an extra shot of twang, rippling over lyrics about a summer romance as hot as the beach sand under a blazing sun — and the inevitable moment as two lovers wrestle with clinging to the last few moments of their summer love. Written by David Garcia, Michael Hardy (HARDY) and Hillary Lindsey, this track seems ready-made for both country radio and the coming hazy, laid-back weeks.

This week’s column features a plethora of collaborations. Superb songwriters Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey team up to plumb the emotional depths of a relationship, while Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson’s power ballad details a relationship on its ragged edge. Top-shelf singer-songwriter Rebecca Lynn Howard, newcomer Zach Top and Texas artist Jason Eady also offer new music.

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Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson, “Save Me”

Labelmates Wilson and Jelly Roll (born Jason DeFord) debuted their collaboration on last week’s Academy of Country Music Awards. This smoldering power ballad (written by DeFord and David Ray Stevens) melds and highlights country music’s breadth of current-day influences, from Jelly Roll’s gritty, rock-infused style, to Wilson’s twangy, R&B-flavored country. Lyrically, the song’s subject is mired in self-recrimination and despair, pleading with a lover to leave in order to find their own freedom, engendering a sense of angst and selflessness.

Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey, “Killing Me”

McKenna and Lindsey have long penned sterling hits with layered nuances, including Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush.” Their latest previews McKenna’s upcoming Dave Cobb-produced album 1988, out July 21 via CN Records/Thirty Tigers. “Would it kill you to be happy?” they ask, paring for this jangly, folk-rock track, excavating the emotional weariness wrought by carrying the weight of constant attempts to ensure a lover’s emotional equilibrium.

Rebecca Lynn Howard, “I Am My Mother”

Known for her 2002 top 20 Billboard Country Airplay hit “Forgive,” Howard possesses one of country music’s most powerful voices. Here, she pays tribute to the integral, enduring influence of the mother-daughter relationship on this sweet piano and strings-inflected ballad. Howard wrote this tender ballad with Jamie Floyd, Rachel Thibodeau and Carolyn Dawn Johnson. The song’s ability to convey teenage rebellion and a sense of empathy and understanding that comes with time and experience makes this Mother’s Day release a song that will touch hearts long after the holiday.

Zach Top, “The Kinda Woman I Like”

Top recently made his Grand Ole Opry debut and has been on tour with Dwight Yoakam. Both milestones are signifiers of the newcomer’s musical ambitions to carry the torch of beloved ’90s country music legends. His latest, the flirtatious barn-burner “The Kinda Woman I Like,” features Top’s twangy vocals, conveying the influence of artists such as Tracy Lawrence and the fiddle-soaked melodies and rhythms of Alan Jackson. Top joins a growing movement of artists inspired more by throwback country sounds than rock and pop ambitions.

Jason Eady, “Way Down in Mississippi”

Texas-by-way-of-Mississippi artist Eady retraces his musical journey and his deep Southern roots on this bluesy, gospel-infused track. Sparse rhythms, tinkling piano, energetic handclaps and soulful backing vocals that would feel right at home in a fervent church service bolster lyrics that namecheck bluegrassers Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley. This singular melding of musical synergies, layered with Eady’s husky voice, makes his latest musical iteration feel timeless. “Way Down in Mississippi” is from his upcoming Aug. 11 release, Mississippi, produced by Band of Heathens’ Gordy Quist.

Brothers Osborne unleash a trio of new tracks this week, while Tanya Tucker celebrates her upcoming Country Music Hall of Fame induction with a first glimpse into her upcoming album. Meanwhile, Aaron Crawford nods to his trusty six-string companion, and Ray Fulcher and Tenille Arts team for an ode of gratitude.

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Brothers Osborne, “Nobody’s Nobody,” “Might as Well Be Me” and “Rollercoaster (Forever and a Day)”

Hitmakers and critical darlings Brothers Osborne team with a new producer, Mike Elizondo, as they return with a trio of gut-punching tracks, marking their first music since the deluxe version of their Skeletons album. “Nobody’s Nobody” is a heartening track that nods to the fact that everyone makes an impact on somebody. “Some people never ever make a name/ But change the game in someone’s story,” TJ sings, backed by John’s bluesy guitar work.

“Might as Well Be Me” is a careening barn burner, with a rollicking groove every bit as impressive as the duo’s previous hit “It Ain’t My Fault,” while maintaining that “Somebody’s gotta shake things up… might as well be me.” Notably, they change gears on the piano and string-led ballad “Rollercoaster,” delving into a romance between two emotional polar opposites and the balance they each bring to the relationship. These well-grounded tracks are a promising glimpse into their upcoming album.

John King, “Make More Time”

King has already proven his sturdiness as a songwriter (through penning songs including Randy Houser’s “We Went”) and an artist (via his 2021 album Always Gonna Be You). But in his latest, he ponders the gravitas of everyday moments — a childhood birthday, or a phone call with an octogenarian loved one — in light of mortality. King’s supple vocal can ride the smooth tenor notes before breaking into a baritone just raspy enough to capture the longing and resignation in the line, “I can make a little money on the side/ But damn, I can’t make more time.”

Tanya Tucker, “Kindness”

Newly minted Country Music Hall of Fame inductee-elect Tucker wasted no time capitalizing on the announcement of her upcoming inclusion into country music’s most coveted membership, announcing her new album, Sweet Western Sound, to arrive June 2. As with many tracks on her previous effort, the Grammy-winning While I’m Livin’, the first taste of her upcoming project, “Kindness,” finds Tucker reflecting on her sinuous life journey, along with the lessons learned through the zeniths and hollows.

“I found glory in the ruins of the best-laid plans,” she ruminates triumphantly on this track, written by twin musician-writers Tim and Phil Hanseroth (known for their work with Brandi Carlile, who co-produced Sweet Western Sound with Shooter Jennings). Beyond the reflection, she pleads for kindness and understanding, and with her signature vocal, Tucker delivers.

Aaron Crawford, “Strings of This Guitar”

Northwest native Crawford telegraphs a nod to his constant companion of “wood and wire,” a well-worn six-string guitar that “took me on a winding road that dreamers understand,” on this tale of ambition-fueled perseverance. Along the way, his notes his trusty guitar has not only served as a bolster for his voice, but a salve for onstage loneliness and anxiety. The woozy, emotional ties depicted within should resonate with any number of musicians and artist-writers.

Chase Matthew, “Come Get Your Memory”

With his latest, Matthew aims squarely for the country/rock and bro-country-tinted amalgam dominating country streaming charts at the moment. In this track Matthew wrote with Casey Brown and Jordan Minton, he faces a home filled with his ex’s memories and begs to her to take them, along with everything else she took when the relationship fizzled. The radio-ready “Come Get Your Memory” is the title track to Matthew’s upcoming debut album for Warner Music Nashville, a 25-song sprawl out June 9.

Nicholas Jamerson, “Billy Graham Parkway”

Sinewy guitar fills this stately-sounding track, which ponders the greed and emptiness in the years and months leading up to a three-car pileup on Billy Graham Parkway. “Was the money you made worth the price that you paid/ Selling Jesus on cable TV?” Jamerson sings pointedly on this track, which was written by Jamerson’s late friend, Allun Cormier. The song takes its name from a stretch of road in Charlotte, North Carolina named for the evangelist Billy Graham. Jamerson’s upcoming album, Peace Mountain, releases May 19.

Ray Fulcher with Tenille Arts, “After the Rain”

The multi-talented Fulcher is known in songwriting circles for contributing to a range of hit songs for artists including Luke Combs (“When It Rains It Pours,” “Does to Me”) and as an artist on his own project Spray-Painted Line. Here, he teams with “Somebody Like That” hitmaker Tenille Arts for this earnest ode of love and gratitude for someone who “picked up the pieces when my heart was breaking/ since you showed up nothin’s been the same.” Their vocal interplay is terrific, with Arts’ penetrating soprano balancing Fulcher’s warm baritone. Fulcher wrote the song with AJ Pruis and Matt Jenkins, together crafting a song that serves as a balm of gratitude in a divisive age.

Remy Garrison, “As I Go”

While numerous country songs amount to little more than a list of nostalgic country “bona fides,” Alabama native and Nashville resident Garrison distills a list of her own — namely, a rundown of lessons she’s learned about love. “Don’t let a fool kiss ya/ Don’t let a kiss fool ya,” and “Don’t shop for white on an empty heart,” are a few of of the hard-fought gems Garrison advises, on this track written by Adam Wood, Lena Stone and Taylor Watson. Garrison is known for her previous single releases such as “Anymore” and “Young and Restless,” but this release further showcases her ear for sturdy songcraft and interpretive talents.