Over the last few months, Margo Price has been very vocal about her psilocybin mushroom use, detailing how it has helped her grow as a person/artist, being the impetus to quit alcohol and the inspiration behind her newest album. The title of the release is an indication of the music contained within, as Strays is clearly searching in various directions.
From the Nashville country of Midwest Farmer’s Daughter to the outlaw roots of All American Made to the Laurel Canyon breezy folk of That’s How Rumors Get Started, Price has always been shifting, yet Strays feels like a clear breaking point where she is shaking off labels and trying to find a new/true voice.
Layers of vibrations and sounds hum out of speakers as producer Jonathan Wilson (Angel Olsen, Father John Misty) uses a deft touch combining various input from Price’s longtime backing band (The Price Tags) and a few very well-placed guests. Opening with the declarative “Been to the Mountain” Price yells/sings a story of despair to glory using punk energy in her vocals, backed by smoother mainstream rock sounds and the combo doesn’t quite gel.
That is a recurring feeling of this album, things are a mixed bag as Price experiments, but never truly abandons pop/rock/folk structures or brings it all together. “Light Me Up” starts with plain acoustic strums before jumping to big electric wah-wah solos from Mike Campbell as Price really pushes that little bit of country/little bit of rock and roll feeling. Standard digital beats dominate “Radio”, but it is Price’s pairing of vocals with Sharon Van Etten which are the real bright spots.
Price was inspired by classic rock, moving away from her more country roots, and she successfully does that in the swaggering “Change of Heart”. The piano and sweet rolling folk rock, along with gorgeous backing from Lucius, yearningly delivers “Anytime You Call” while “Landfill” properly wraps up the album linking warbling sounds with the opener and delivering a host of lyrical dying dreams.
Price cruises too close to the classics on the “Thunder Road” inspired “Country Road”, an elongated journey of death and longing, looking for her own “one last chance to make it real” while “Hell in the Heartlands” uses an ominous musical setting with smokey steel guitars, but never delivers the knockout punch lyrically. On the flip side, the experimental “Lydia” overflows with spoken word lyrics and singing, playing like three songs in one; while heartfelt, also messy and unfocused.
Strays is clearly a transitional album from Margo Price as she evolves in musical scope and simply as a person.
