Third Man Records (label)
20 October 2017 (released)
20 October 2017
Just 18 months have passed since Margo Price released her debut solo album Midwest Farmer's Daughter and found herself proclaimed as the female Chris Stapleton. A saviour of a trad country sound that has been so often bent and broken beyond recognition in the contemporary country scene. With her striking storytelling, that recounted her troublesome life up to that moment in time, she reminded many of country's truest Queens - Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton and Wanda Jackson. Now with the mainstream beckoning, Margo Price has just been announced for the mainstage at Country2Country alongside Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Little Big Town, has the pressure to break into household name territory lead Margo Price to abandon her authenticity?
Most definitely not. Margo Price's vintage sound may have grown from her debut, but it certainly doesn't abandon the authenticity that made her the artist everyone was talking about.
Although she is being hailed by many as one of country's saviours, what is most distinctive in her appeal is that she has the same soulful edge to her vocal that set Aretha Franklin apart from her contemporaries. Yes, she is not as bold or big in her delivery and her overall presence is more mellow, but like Aretha she has the ability to relate a story and allow her own emotion to feel like that of the listener.
Equally important to note is that akin to her debut, All American Made veers away from the glossy and glowing, but somehow within her tales of trials of tribulations, she leaves you with a warm, glowing and somewhat sentimental feel that leaves you wanting to cuddle your nearest and dearest.
While the boogie driven rowdiness of Weakness and tenderness of Learning To Lose are easy highlights, it is when she gets political on Pay Gap and critical of Cocaine Cowboys that she shows that she is destined to be as prolific and unforgettable and the four aforementioned icons of her genre.
Unafraid, unashamed and a dynamic musical force to be reckoned with, Margo Price is not attempting to reclaim country for country's sake, she is simply sharing her truth in the best way she knows how. This does not try to tick boxes for the audience's sake, but it will most certainly leave you in awe and wanting to see her live in an intimate setting before she becomes a stadium only artist.
