miranda lambert

Will Hermes reviewed it over there.

goddamn i love this album
how is she the best?

i don't know but she might literally be the best rn

What do you folks think of this arrangement of “In His Arms“?

I love the whole fucking thing.

Prefer this version of “In His Arms”

But I like the Marfa version of “Gerladene” a lot more.

Still on my first listen, haven’t gotten to the other Marfa track yet.

I was on the verge of saying the B-52s track is not nearly as bad as I expected it to be. Then Fred Schneider came in and turns out it was exactly what I expected. Too bad - it would be a great song without him.

The "Waxahatchee" version on this album is big and hook-filled. I've had it in my head for days.

haha I forgot about the B-52s track -- it's...fine? I don't need it.

speaking of the arrangement updates - I loved Waxahachie on The Marfa Tapes, but I think the version on Palomino is sorta breathtaking ... a consummate country radio single

oh, xpost ... and agree :)

I mean, who else can balance camp and empathy like Lambert on something like "Tourist"?

Yeah this is great. In general I've had a hard time loving her albums, they always have songs I love but tend to lose me. But this sustains straight through.

Also I like the B-52s track, I think it's funny.

I prefer the Marfa version of In His Arms - i dont have any problem w the new arrangement exactly, it’s just that I prefer her delivery in the Marfa version & i think the song overall works better being really spare & plaintive

That was my first reaction as well (I look forward to listening to the new album more)

I think it's a great song and works in both settings. I'm glad I heard the Marfa one first, but I like hearing it fleshed out too.

I've realized I admired the Marfa Tapes as gesture more than performance. She's made for big gestures imo.

i like the marfa versions better but im a recent miranda convert so this may change over time

God, "Scenes."

Geraldine sounds so great with the full production, such a killer

The new “Waxahachie” is indeed great; it makes the Marfa version function as a demo (whereas the Marfa “In His Arms” feels like a fully realized thing all its own).

WUX-AH-HATCH-EEE

yeah it’s gorgeous

God, "Scenes."

Also “that’s what makes the jukebox play” just bc I love Miranda musing on random barflies

i am in love w Carousel currently

Harlan Giovanni
What a sight to see
The way he earned her trust was on a 20-foot trapeze
She fell so hard because he always let her fly
Till he left her heart suspended
In a cotton candy sky
She still don't know why

god

We haven't mentioned the Jagger cover, and it's tight.

yes! i didnt even know it was a cover til mr veg pointed it out to me. i dont really know Jagger’s solo work, compelled to explore now.

she always does great covers though, love her material choices always.

You shouldn't. Wandering Spirit is terrific enough to fool you into thinking what preceded and followed it are worth a spin.

Yep, Fred from the B 52s hurts that track the group backs Miranda on

I don't know, hearing Fred pretty much always makes me happy, I don't mind him popping up. But for sure there are a lot better songs on the album. (Not that that one's bad.)

yeah i quite like it! no beef from me

i like this album, not sure i could picture her putting out an album i wouldn't like at this point. but i do think this one feels a bit one note to me from a production POV, it's all very like... jaunty band on the road together. which i get is basically what the album is about but i do miss the diversity in sound that you get on platinum, weight of these wings & wildcard. i think the new "waxahatachee" really stands out for that reason, it has some propulsion and a bit of that fleetwood mac-ness that she's flirted with before.

i actually like the new arrangement of "in his arms," there's a sort of spectral grandeur to it now that i think deepens the song in a different way, it sorta reminds me of "space cowboy" actually. the campfire recording of the original is great in its own way too of course, i really enjoy this take on it tho.

plz ignore my spelling of "waxahachie"

I'm glad you brought up "Space Cowboy" because to me, there are a whole bunch of songs on this album that remind me of Kacey and Golden Hour. Not that it sounds exactly like it or anything, and the two of them couldn't be farther apart in vocal style, but there is a resonant space in a lot of these songs created by the electric guitar that I didn't notice until I put it on headphones.

I hear more "Take It Easy" than Fleetwood Mac in the new "Waxahachie."

am i the only one in love with actin' up? the reverb and guitar tone has a nice baby did a bad bad thing vibe

then half stepping into that chorus

xxpost yes! i heard take it easy in there too! i started singing the opening line after the intro lol

actin' up rules so hard

Both the production and most of the songwriting strikes me as aiming for a dead centre middle ground between The Weight of These Wings and Wildcard. I suppose that could seem a bit unambitious given to date nearly every album has felt like it was reacting to or pushing beyond its predecessor, but it also feels like a really logical and attractive spot for her to occupy for a spell.

IMO the connection to those albums is less about the way the production sounds and more about the songwriting. Wings was the first album she worked with Luke Dick and Ingram/Randall on, but for only a few songs ("Highway Vagabond," "Pink Sunglasses," "Tin Man") and Frank Liddell was still producing.

For Wildcard, the Lambert/Dick/Hemby team wrote like half the album -- most of its best songs -- but it's lathered in Jay Joyce's radio-friendly country rock. On Palomino, she's again primarily writing with Dick/Hemby outside of the three Marfa Tapes re-records (all of which are superb) and the Jagger cover (sidebar: she is the queen of smart covers), but now she's got Dick and Randall producing, too.

What I hear in nearly all of Dick's stuff is loose, unserious country funk with a ton of swagger. A lot of it plays like summer boat music in the style of Little Big Town's "Pontoon."

What's really interesting to me is the marriage of Dick and Randall, because I think it may be Randall who adds this dusty southwestern border vibe to some of the tracks, especially the Marfa Tape tracks. Then on top of that, you've got that Golden Hour-esque open space that I mentioned yesterday. Lo and behold Ian Fitchuk plays keyboards/organ on this -- he co-wrote and produced that whole album; probably what I was hearing on headphones.

So you've got a really intentional group of artists that she's been building momentum with for a few years all bringing different perspectives to this, and it is in my view a huge success for Lambert's first album as producer. I traded tweets with Alfred on it, but think this is better end-to-end than Wildcard, Revolution, and Four the Record. Hard to rank it against the rest of her catalog, which I consider unimpeachable.

That's a smart summary of Dick-Randall's strengths

If I'm being honest, there's always a few duds on her albums that I skip or delete from a playlist. But that pales in comparison to the amount of absolutely stunning songs she has made in the last 20 years. I could literally listen to her for weeks straight and not get bored. Not sure I can say that about any other artist in that timespan.

killer post, Indexed

Great insight, thanks Indexed

lol on Huffpost I'm seeing one of clickbait articles with a pic Miranda Lambert: "She was a top Country singer; This is her now"

Well I’m no big fan of Golden Hour, I agree I can hear a similar psychedelic smear in the production here (the songs and vocals are in a whole other league, of course)