Song Reviews

This week’s crop of new music features Chase Rice honoring his late father through his new music, while Benjamin Tod teams up with reigning Americana Music Honors & Awards entertainer of the year winner Sierra Ferrell. Meanwhile, “A Lot More Free” hitmaker Max McNown, Ian Munsick, Anna Vaus and more offer new tunes.

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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country songs of the week below.

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Chase Rice, “You in ‘85”

Chase Rice may be known for writing and recording bro-country hits such as co-writing Florida Georgia Line’s RIAA-Diamond certified hit “Cruise,” but over his most recent projects, he’s made it clear that bro-country sound represents his past, not his present — as his new music leans toward rootsier, raw-rock driven sounds, trading party anthems for introspective lyrical themes. His newly released album Go Down Singin’ continues to evince his matured songwriting, particularly on “You in ’85,” a song that pays homage to Rice’s late father, serving as both a catalog of memories he has of his father, while also acknowledging the mannerisms they share. “You always said I was gonna look just like you/ Now this man in the mirror’s the proof,” he sings, as his voice conveys a crackling warmth of self-reflection and an easy-going comfortableness with his new sound.

Benjamin Tod feat. Sierra Ferrell, “One Last Time”

As singer-songwriter Tod, the former frontman for the Lost Dog Street Band, gears up for his new solo album Shooting Star (out Oct. 18 on Thirty Tigers), he welcomes reigning Americana Music Honors & Awards winner Sierra Ferrell on this sparse piano arrangement, with gospel music-inflected background harmonies and swaths of steel guitar lending a rustic, elegant aura. “I’m a fool for the darkness and a fiend for the light/ Could you blame me one last time,” they sing, their voices blending sumptuously, while wrapping their distinct drawls around each lyric, drawing out the song’s tension and longing with every vocal inflection. On Shooting Star, Tod dabbles in country music from a span of decades, proving the deep-seated influence of Nashville-area hometown.

Anna Vaus, “Happy Trails”

Southern California native Anna Vaus has put in the work in Music City over the past several years, inking a publishing deal with Big Machine Music and penning songs recorded by Keith Urban, Carly Pearce and others (Vaus also performed with Urban at the 2024 CMT Music Awards). With “Happy Trails,” she issues the lead single from her own debut album, one steeped in the sounds of ’70s Laurel Canyon with a Nashville sense of lyrical detail.

Vaus’ own “Happy Trails” embodies much the same sentiment of the Dale Evans-written, Roy Rogers-performed 1952 classic of the same name, though here, Vaus sings a story close to her own, of wishing the best to a friend who is setting off on a jet plane to chase their dreams in Music City. She employs a classical country construction, detailing simple well-wishes such as warm coffee and flowers growing in a yard, before digging deeper on lines such as “I hope you learn to love the parts of you you hate/ And the things you cannot change ’cause therein liеs the heart.” A solid, promising start from this established songcrafter.

Max McNown, “Snowman”

McNown’s “A Lot More Free” has escalated up the viral charts, and he’s followed with the just-released EP Willfully Blind. “Snowman,” featured on the EP, captures his longing over a once-blazing romance that transformed into the chilliest of receptions whenever he sees his ex. Over polished acoustic production, he considers, “You said goodbye and I said see you round/ Cuz a boy don’t close a book/ Until he knows a story’s done.” McNown wrote “Snowman” with Paul Duncan, Cory Asbury, Paul Mabry and Michael Farren.

Ian Munsick, “Western Woman”

Wyoming-born Munsick earned an RIAA Gold-certified song with his Cody Johnson collaboration “Long Live Cowgirls,” and he reprises that theme on his new solo track, “Western Woman,” which Munsick wrote with Billy Montana and Randy Montana. In his new song, he acknowledges the appeal of the way of life from the coasts, but sings that ultimately, “My kinda darling is grounded as a fence post/ She got wild in her smile, dust on her jeans.” Mandolin playing from Charlie Worsham and fiddle work from Tim Hayes serve to further heighten the song’s Western sound.

Hunter Hayes, “In a Song (Lost & Found)”

Hunter Hayes revisits to his previously-released “In a Song,” originally featured on the Encore edition of his 2011 self-titled album. The new version retains the largely pop sonics, but showcases his matured vocal while still giving the song a youthful, refreshed patina. The song is one of three remixed and remastered renditions of his previously-released songs on his upcoming EP Lost & Found.

This week, Billy Strings and Margo Price link up for a stoned-cold country sound, while Koe Wetzel offers a party-worthy romantic rebuff and Mae Estes sings a gut-punch of a song about the guys who give “good ‘ol boys” a bad name. This week’s crop of new tunes also features songs from Anne Wilson, Parker McCollum and more.

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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country songs of the week below.

Billy Strings/Margo Price, “Too Stoned to Cry”

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Americana mainstay Price welcomes prolific bluegrass artist Strings on guitar and vocals on this lilting heap of honky-tonk heartbreak, produced by Beau Bedford and written by Andrew Combs (and previously released on his 2014 album Worried Man). They sing of coping with touring life’s pressures and long hours through various vices — or as they put it, “Walking the line between hellbent and high.” The two singers’ world-weary voices bring a heft of believability to this sad country track.

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Anne Wilson, “Stand”

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Earlier this year, Wilson made a genre-melding project with the country/contemporary Christian album Rebel, spearheaded by songs such as “Rain in the Rearview” and “Strong.” She continues in that vein with her latest, as she sings of summoning strength to “stand for love when all you see is hate.” Bright production and a balanced country-pop instinct are a shining foil for her powerful, twangy vocal and a message of holding fast to one’s convictions.

Mae Estes, “Good Ol’ Boys”

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Estes lends her bluegrass-tinted lilt to this tale of small-town deception. She boldly sings of a “good ol’ boy” who seems unfailingly polite and picture perfect to the rest of the community. Thus, Estes sings, the members of that tight-knit town likely would never believe how his personality changes in private quarters. But to those his monstrous side has impacted, the concept of a “good ol’ boy” instills more wariness than trust. The writers here are Autumn McEntire, Marti Dodson and SJ McDonald.

Parker McCollum, “What Kinda Man”

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Grungy guitar gives way to a ferocious mashup of harmonica, blazing rock and honky tonk twang on McCollum’s latest. “It’s harder than it looks to walk that line,” he sings, reminiscing about living life on the edge, until he meets the one who has him rethinking his ways. As always, McCollum offers up an exemplary, gritty and undoubtedly country vocal styling.

Angie K, “Stay”

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El Salvador-born Angie K, known for songs including “Happily Ever After,” employs a grainy, soulful rasp that’s enticing on this romantic, bilingual track. Lush background vocals and velvety instrumentation, accented with flashes of Latin guitar, heighten the sultry flavor here. Angie K, David Borys, Tom Pino and Jason Haag are the writers behind the song. “Stay” is featured on Angie K’s self-titled EP, which will be released Oct. 25.

Koe Wetzel, “Casamigos”

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Following the release of his ninth studio album 9 Lives in July, Wetzel finally releases this fan favorite. This laid-back rocker with an ample sing-along-chorus is an anthem of defiance. “Mary Jane took my license/ And Casamigos took my friend,” he sings, before making it clear that while a cascade of less-than-stellar decisions may have cost a few things dear to him, there is one romantic relationship in particular he’s just fine with losing. Wetzel brings a jam-band vibe and a display of bravura to this stinging romantic rebuff.

This week marks the release of Country Music Hall of Famer George Strait’s 31st studio album for MCA Nashville, Cowboys and Dreamers. Meanwhile, Ella Langley and Riley Green, who earned a viral hit with their collab “You Look Like You Love Me,” reunite on a new song from Green’s new album, while new music is also featured from Luke Bryan, Willow Avalon, Denitia and Joe Nichols.

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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country songs and projects of the week below.

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George Strait, Cowboys and Dreamers

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Strait’s 31st studio album comes following a period of severe personal loss in Strait’s camp, including the passings of his longtime manager Erv Woolsey, as well as his longtime fiddle and mandolin player Gene Elders, who played with Strait since the 1980s. On the 13-song album, with his warm vocal that eschews ostentation, Strait continues to evince why he is one of country music’s most gifted singers and lyrical narrators (though Strait has also steadily made songwriting contributions to his own albums, co-writing two songs on his latest).

He also pays homage to late songwriter, artist, and guitarist Keith Gattis on the album by recording a trio of Gattis-penned songs: the album’s title track, along with “Wish I Could Say” and the Gattis-Guy Clark penned “Rent.” Before the launch of “Rent,” Strait further punctuates his appreciation for Gattis’s work by offering words of praise for the late Gattis. Elsewhere, he pays homage to the late Waylon Jennings with a version of “Waymore’s Blues” and delivers a love song as only Strait can in “To the Moon.” Throughout all of them, Strait continues cementing his role in the genre as a paragon of sustained excellence.

Riley Green feat. Ella Langley, “Don’t Mind If I Do”

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Green was recently featured on Langley’s song “You Look Like You Love Me,” which became a viral hit for both artists. Green returns the favor by featuring Langley on his latest song, a solo write from Green –and no wonder, as they make compelling collaborators and their voices mesh mightily. Here, he’s lonely and reminiscing on the halcyon days of a fizzled relationship. As his longing propels him, he asks for forgiveness if he decides to “drink up the nerve and show up at your house.” The cracks in his burly voice draw out the nuances in the unexpected twists and turns of the lyrics, while Langley’s languid drawl heightens the tensions of desire that runs throughout the song. The song is the title track to Green’s upcoming album (out in October).

Willow Avalon, “Homewrecker”

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Newcomer Avalon turns the premise of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” on its head, answering the classic cheating song with this rowdy mesh of prowling percussion and twangy, roadhouse guitars. “I’m just a girl who tried to take a man at his word,” she sings with a scathing yet airy warble. Avalon, who wrote this song with Tofer Brown and JR Atkins, is swiftly staking her claim as an immensely promising newcomer.

Luke Bryan, “Country Song Came On”

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As he gears up for his new album Mind of a Country Boy, out Sept. 27, the two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner previews the project with this written by Ryan Beaver, Dan Alley and Neil Medley. This is still squarely within Bryan’s musical wheelhouse, but the structural simplicity and storytelling arc allow Bryan to use his conversational, narrational vocal to great effect. He nods to the decision-altering effects of classic country music with the hook, “I wasn’t gonna drink/ Then a country song came on.” The lyrics’ appreciated nod to Earl Thomas Conley doesn’t hurt, either.

Denitia, “Sunset Drive”

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Denitia, who was named as part of CMT’s 2024 Next Women of Country class, issues a new, dozen-song project, marking Denitia’s first since 2022’s Highways. “Everything is beautiful even when it falls apart,” she sings on the title track, as intricate and breezy instrumental arrangements elevate her hazy, beckoning vocals, as she finds the positive elements even as a relationship crumbles. Denitia wrote with Brad Allen Williams. 

Joe Nichols, “Doin’ Life With You”

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Nichols continues his proclivities for pouring his light-hearted vocal tone over tales of the highs and lows of everyday love in this new song, included on his upcoming album Honky Tonks and Country Songs, out Oct. 25. A solo write by Jimmy Yeary (“I Drive Your Truck”), this new song offers a clear-eyed look at the result of a love that has endured the trials, unexpected life twists, and mundane moments, all adding up to a solidified bond between two lovers. The song feels akin to his 2022 release “Good Day for Living,” while Nichols remains one of country music’s most consistent, indelible vocalists.

This week, Post Malone made his much-heralded country music debut with his collaborations-packed album F-1 Trillion–and then surprised fans with the release of F-1 Trillion: Long Bed, with an additional nine songs. Elsewhere, Brantley Gilbert teams with Justin Moore for a new track, while bluegrasser Bella White covers an Emmylou Harris classic.

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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country songs of the week below.

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Post Malone, F-1 Trillion: Long Bed

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Post Malone’s country era officially arrived in full bloom on Friday (Aug. 16) via his new album F-1 Trillion. While his foray into the genre came with the help of one of the format’s biggest artists, Morgan Wallen, on “I Had Some Help,” the full F-1 Trillion project displays Post Malone’s undeniably deep-seated love for the genre, with an array of collaborations with Luke Combs, Dolly Parton, Tim McGraw, Ernest, Hank Jr. and other genre stalwarts. Each of those collabs feels crafted toward the featured artist’s strengths (in the case of McGraw’s collab, it even ties in titles of some of McGraw’s lengthy list of hits). However, Post Malone also proves he can do country just fine without any star-studded collabs, such as on the tender ode to his daughter, “Yours.”

Later in the weekend he also surprised fans with nine additional, solo-recorded songs for the Long Bed edition, and in the process, offered up a slate of some of the overall album’s strongest, and delightfully country, material. This “no skips” string of songs includes the Western swing romps of “Who Needs You” and “Back to Texas” and flirty ’90s country of “Hey Mercedes.” “Two Hearts” looks at the reverberations that heartbreak has on an entire family, while he makes the case for a post-breakup, passion-filled reunion on “Ain’t How It Ends,” but acknowledges that “Hank and Johnny, Strait and Ronnie Dunn made all the rules.” Meanwhile, the somber “Killed a Man” is a clear-eyed look at viciously and suddenly putting his various vices behind him.

The extended version of F-1 Trillion cements Post Malone as an artist with a full-fledged sense of his musical vision and contributions to the genre — while the fiddle, steel guitar and ’90s country twang that fill this album suits this Texas native with aplomb.

Brantley Gilbert feat. Justin Moore, “Dirty Money”

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Georgia native Gilbert and Arkansas native Moore team up for this pride-fueled celebration of those who earn their “dirty money” straight from the ground, providing food for communities through raising and harvesting crops. Written by Gilbert with Josh Phillips, this track revs up with all the gritty churn of a combine, as a bed of industrial-scale, frothy guitars, sharp percussion and thudding bass carry the two artists’ intertwined, destinctive drawls.

“Dirty Money” serves as the opening song to Gilbert’s upcoming album, Tattoos, out Sept. 13.

Morgan Wade feat. Kesha, “Walked on Water”

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On her new album Obsessed, Wade offers her most detailed and unvarnished storytelling to date, particularly on her new song with veteran pop hitmaker Kesha. “Walked on Water” is a post-breakup realization of one’s own faults and delusions that led to the relational dissolution. “People like me/ We don’t do well at sea/ ‘Cause I thought I walked on water,” Wade sings, as her oil-and-sandpaper voice weaving together with Kesha’s on this tender piano ballad, a solo write from Wade.

Bella White, “Luxury Liner”

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Canadian-born White issued her debut album, Just Like Leaving, four years ago and since then has proven to be a prolific and essential new voice, thanks to songs including “Not to Blame.” Here, White covers the Gram Parsons-written, Emmylou Harris-recorded “Luxury Liner,” which was the title track to Harris 1976 album. White’s version retains the song’s frenetic instrumental urgency, particularly with razor-sharp fiddle and a steady percussion, while White’s voice interjects a hazy, twangy purity.

“Luxury Liner” is from White’s new five-song covers EP Fire for Silver, which also includes covers of Lucinda Williams’ “Concrete and Barbed Wire,” and Jeff Tweedy’s “Nobody Dies Anymore.”

Muscadine Bloodline, “Good in This World”

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Since forming their duo in 2016, Muscadine Bloodline’s Charlie Muncaster and Gary Stanton have forged a reputation as two of country music’s liveliest entertainers, and a duo deadset on creating their career on their own terms, outside of the major label system. On their latest album, The Coastal Plain, released, Aug. 16 on Stancaster via Thirty Tigers, they further elevate their songcraft, particularly on the meticulously detailed album closer, “Good in this World.” The song hinges on the tale of a young man’s chance meeting with a Vietnam veteran at a gas station, as the veteran tells of relishing in (and intentionally making) many of his life’s simplest but best moments, from listening to “Brown Eyed Girl” to buying his loved one pearls. The conversation is a perspective-shifting one, leading the younger gentleman to make the most of his own moments, both present and future.

This week’s batch of new country music includes Kelsea Ballerini‘s cathartic new track, collaborations from Callista Clark with Scotty McCreery, and from Jett Holden with Cassadee Pope, as well as new music from Randall King.

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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country songs of the week below.

Kelsea Ballerini, “Sorry Mom”

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Crackling acoustic guitar introduces this mid-tempo, pop-tilted musing, which previews the Grammy-nominated Ballerini’s upcoming album Patterns. As always, Ballerini excels in crafting lyrics dripping with exquisite candor, as this reconciliatory song finds her cataloging the ways she may not have lived up to familial expectations, including drinking, dropping out of college, having premarital sex, and sometimes putting career before family too often. But she acknowledges that while the choices made in her younger years no doubt caused her mother moments of worry, the lessons learned along the way have forged a woman stronger, wiser, more confident and decisive.

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Randall King, “I Could Be That Rain”

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One of country music’s most towering new country neo-traditionalist voices, King piles up the romantic fervor for an ex-lover on his latest, wishing he could sing his ex a favorite song and generally regain her affections. The Texan with the rich, confident twang brings to the table a slightly more polished production here, but still squarely traditional enough to declare his talents on equal footing with many of today’s hitmakers such as labelmate Cody Johnson. “I Could Be That Rain,” written by Brian Fuller and Mason Thornley, marks King’s first single at country radio and is included on his sophomore album Into the Neon.

Jett Holden feat. Cassadee Pope, “Karma”

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Earlier this year, Jett Holden was announced as the first signing to Black Opry Records, with Holden’s debut album The Phoenix out Oct. 4. “It turns out loyalty is just as dead as chivalry,” Holden sings on “Karma,” one of the songs from the project, welcoming Cassadee Pope on this stinging, churning rebuff to a romantic traitor. Matched by seething rock guitars, Holden and Pope’s voices punch hard, standing their ground and swelling into a wounded-yet-defiant, rock-fueled declaration.

Kayley Green, “Shadow of a Cowboy”

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Kayley Green has been a longtime fixture in downtown Nashville’s music scene, performing at several downtown music venues, and at one point, joining Keith Urban onstage during his Bridgestone Arena show, before Green signed with Sony Music Nashville earlier this year. She follows previous release “Live Fast Die Pretty” with this polished kiss-off to a lover who can’t tame his rambling ways. Sinewy guitars and understated percussion underpin Green’s rafter-reaching soprano, before she taunts the ex-lover with, “You’re just a shadow of a cowboy/ A real one would stay.” Green wrote this track with Jon Nite, Ross Copperman, and Ben Williams.

Scotty McCreery and Callista Clark, “Gettin’ Old”

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Though Scotty McCreery possesses one of the most transcendent traditional voices in modern country, McCreery has been judicious in releasing collaborations with other vocalists, with many of his collabs being connected to his days as an American Idol contestant. But on this somber track, he teams mightily with Clark, his solid oak of a voice a foil for her sleek vocal, while they match each other heartache for heartache as they reach into their upper registers. Together, their voices embody the flickers of hope that still spark among the ashes as they sing of a couple who realize their relationship is growing stale, rather than stronger. Clark wrote this track with Averie Bielski and Karen Kasowski.

Will Moseley, “I Don’t Want to Fight No More”

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American Idol alum Moseley lends his thousand-watt vocal to this track penned by Alex Maxwell, Dawson Edwards and Kameron Marlowe. Southern rock leanings plus heartbreak and weary resignation converge on this track about a couple who realize their relationship’s frayed edges are at the breaking point, making this a perfect go-to track for anyone wading through emotional despair at a relational crossroads.

This week’s batch of new songs features a double-shot of hitmakers with Lainey Wilson teaming with Miranda Lambert for a new collaboration. Elsewhere, Orville Peck joins forces with Allison Russell on a song from Peck’s new album, while Alex Lambert and Gavin Adcock also offer new tunes.

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Check out all these and more in Billboard’s roundup of the best country songs of the week below:

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Lainey Wilson feat. Miranda Lambert, “Good Horses”

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Two of country music’s most illustrious women artists team up for a double-shot of star power, as Wilson’s Louisiana drawl blends wondrously with Lambert’s Texas twang. On this laid-back song, they use the metaphor of a wild horse to acknowledge the wanderlust and draw of freedom and adventure amidst the need for the comforts of home, while offering a tender reminder to those they leave behind that “good horses always come home.” Sonically, this honeyed, hazy song lilts along with the grace, highlighting that not every star-powered song needs a high-voltage vocal performance — sometimes the gentle arc of direct, heartfelt words are made all the stronger for the gentleness.

Orville Peck & Allison Russell, “Chemical Sunset”

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On Orville Peck’s new album Stampede, he teams with Americana music luminary Allison Russell on this stomping, theatrical pairing. Their voices are tremendous, with Russell’s voice sultry and fluttering, and delicately cracking in just the right places with Peck’s vocal rendering a cavernous, steady foil, fusing to convey song’s brooding message of living life with desire and abandon, even as the world burns around them. “Chemical Sunset” marks an illustrious standout on this project.

Alex Lambert, “She Ain’t Texas”

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Texan Lambert issues a bluesy country ballad that evokes trading the draw of home in the pursuit of ambition — in his case, leaving his home in Fort Worth, Texas to move to Nashville. His voice is at once rugged, wistful, soulful, and instantly commanding. Lambert wrote “She Ain’t Texas” with Jordan Lawhead, with production from Drew Allsbrook, Stefan Lit and Dylan Chambers. Lambert may be forlorn over the Lone Star State, but this track makes his Tennessee prospects favorable.

Kameron Marlowe & Marcus King, “High Hopes”

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This song from Marlowe’s 2024 album Keepin’ the Lights On gets a bluesy reimagining, thanks to singer-songwriter-guitarist King. The song is a tightrope of mourning and longing as he moves through disappointment to the first glimmers of hope. On its surface, it’s a curious pairing between the mainstream country singer Marlowe and Americana stalwart King, but their voices blend mightily, while King’s guitar prowess gives the song a darker, moodier patina.

Chase Matthew with Fernando & Sorocaba, “Cold Blooded”

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“Casa Branca” hitmakers Fernando & Sorocaba team with country hitmaker Chase Matthew on their latest outing. Brazilian, EDM rhythms and country constructions weave together, turning heartache into a technicolor dancefloor anthem in this tale of a guy whose trying to earn the affections of someone whose “love is on lockdown,” as he toggles between hope and the knowledge that he’ll never break through her icy heart. Fernando & Sorocaba are set to release the upcoming project NASH, featuring more collabs with country artists including Dustin Lynch, LOCASH and more.

Gavin Adcock, “Run Your Mouth”

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Georgia native and high school sports star-turned-singer Adcock broke through with the angsty ballad “A Cigarette,” but his new song conveys the embedded musical influence of Southern rock, as he growls and seethes his way through this moody, musical warning shot to someone who. “If you live like this, make sure that you don’t miss/ Your opportunity when you gotta go.” Adcock just released his album Actin’ Up Again, via Thrivin Here Records under exclusive license to Warner Music Nashville.

This week’s batch of new country tunes includes George Strait offering a tender, focused aim at life’s important moments, while Luke Combs brings songs from her familial-focused album Fathers & Sons.

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Meanwhile, Carter Faith teams with Alison Krauss for a heartbreak anthem, while Don Louis offers a dance-worthy earworm, and Jenna Paulette delves into her country roots.

George Strait, “The Little Things”

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Strait’s warm, conversational, and compelling voice expertly renders an introspective musing at the myriad moments — sunsets, a gentle rain, spending time with loved ones, or “an old Merle Haggard song” — that infuse life with joy. Heightened by tender string work, this ballad is included on Strait’s upcoming album, Cowboys & Dreamers, set for Sept. 6. Strait has always had an ear for a great song, and his latest, which he wrote with Bubba Strait and Monty Criswell, proves The King never misses.

Luke Combs, “Remember Him That Way”

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This two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner celebrated Father’s Day by dropping the dozen-song ode to the lifelong arc of familial bonds between dads and their sons with the album Fathers & Sons.

In one song from the album, “Remember Him That Way,” he vividly recalls all the ways he thought of his father as strong and dependable throughout his life and muses as his father grows older and more frail, “That ‘S’ on his chest is starting to fade/ But I’ll always remember him that way.” Combs wrote the song with Jonathan Singleton, Erik Dylan and Jessi Alexander.

Combs has notched 17 Billboard Country Airplay No. 1s, with a slate of songs ranging from heartbreak anthems to beer-soaked barn burners. But with his new album, he recalibrates the depths of his music, bringing fans deeper into his current perspective as a father to two young boys, while also encapsulating universal themes of the generational relationships between parents and their children.

Don Louis, “Liquor Talkin’”

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Given the success of a line of massive hits songs stacking up this summer that fuse pop and hip-hop rhythms with country twang and rural, barroom-inspired lyrics, Don Louis’ latest feels like a natural candidate for the next global country-tinged smash.

“Not a doctor, I’m not a lawyer/ Feels like right now I can do anything,” sings Louis, who possesses an attention-commanding, gravelly drawl. Against a thumping, hip-hop groove tailor-made for dancing, “Liquor Talkin’” captures the confidence-heightening results stemming from a night of imbibing. Louis wrote the song with Cale Dodds and Thomas Kipp Williams, while the song is the title track to his upcoming album, out Aug. 23 via EMPIRE / Money Myers Entertainment LLC.

Jenna Paulette, “Wild Is Her Favorite Color”

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Paulette sketches a musical portrait of an independent-minded woman who knows what she loves, from her favorite country song (The Chicks’ “Ready to Run”) and her favorite drink (tequila sunrise) to her favorite, passionate hue–and no, it’s not fire-engine red, but rather, as Paulette puts it, “A little deeper shade of dangerous.” Paulette’s lilting voice adds a perfect blend of spice and sugar, adding a mysterious tint to this bright, breezy production. “Wild Is Her Favorite Color” is from her upcoming album Horseback, out Sept. 6.

Carter Faith and Alison Krauss, “Blue Bird”

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Carter Faith, who recently inked a label deal with UMG Nashville, teams with one of the most luminous voices in country and bluegrass, Alison Krauss, for the new song “Blue Bird.” Faith more than holds her own with an ethereal soprano that pairs exquisitely with Krauss’ backing vocals. This dazzling meditation on the crackling ache of youthful heartbreak finds Faith asking, “Is he why you’re blue? Is he why you sing like you do?” Faith wrote the song with Tofer Brown and Lauren Hungate.