Jason Boland and The Stragglers released their new album, “Hard times are relative“, on May 18th, and it’s a masterpiece.
Three years after “Squelsh“, Oklahoma country band (now based in Austin, Texas), chose eleven awesome songs for their ninth studio album, still distributed by Thirty Tigers, each one being a pearl for every country music lover.
The album was recorded in Yellow Dog Studios (Wimberley, Texas), and coproduced by them, by Adam Odor, who also brilliantly produced Mike and The Moonpies’ recent and excellent “Steak Night at the Prairie Rose” and by David Percefull.
“Hard times are relative”, the title track, is a very tuneful song, beautifully written. We just can’t stop from listening to it. It’s the kind of song that all country music lovers want to listen.
“I don’t deserve you” and “Predestined” are two beautiful and sweet ballads, the first one featuring Sunny Sweeney, who is performing in the background.
Rock sound is sometimes present, particularly with “Dee Dee Od’d”, but Honky Tonk is probably the main hallmark of this brilliant album, very present in songs as “Right where I began“, Searching for you” or “Bulbs“.
“Going going gone” is another tuneful and catchy song, that particularly stands out for its brilliant use of fiddle.
“Grandfather’s theme“, which is the largest track of the album, along with the title track, may surprise for its permanent beat changes, but it’s a very good composition too.
Jason Boland, Brad Rice, Grant Tracy, Nick Worley and Cody Angel keep on creating wonderful country music and made, undoubtedly, one of the best albums of 2018. With “Hard Times are relative”, we have the confirmation that Texas is definitely the land where country music is alive, for the happiness of all those who love this genre, all over the world.
Nicolas Davelu
Country Music France 