New Country Music You Need To Hear This Week From Miranda Lambert, Hardy, Dexter & The Moonrocks And More
Miranda Lambert - Crisco
Lambert has built a career on making strength sound complicated, angry, wounded, funny, defiant. Here, she makes room for another expression of it: pleasure. There is confidence in allowing a record to feel this playful without constantly announcing its seriousness. Crisco succeeds because Lambert sounds comfortable enough to let loose. She still has the sharp tongue and the badass storytelling instincts. This time, she also has her eye on the dance floor. And she knows exactly how to work the room.
Hardy - Man In The Box
At nearly eight minutes, this is a song asking for your attention. Give it the time. There’s a whole tapestry here, with the threads of HARDY’s influences pulled tight around a story that could only come from him. Music City’s resident wildcard has dealt another strange, ambitious hand. This one deserves to be played all the way through.
Dexter And The Moonrocks - Friends That I Don’t Like
What makes Friends That I Don’t Like compelling is the movement between its different strengths. “Why Don’t You Say So” opens the door to collaboration. “Let It Hurt” lets an acoustic riff lead the way. “If You Could Talk” digs into the country-grunge identity, while “Space Invader” hints at what these songs could become with a crowd behind them.
Those shifts give the album shape and keep its grit from becoming one-dimensional.
Dexter and The Moonrocks have a sound that feels lived in, with enough Texas character to stay grounded and enough restless rock energy to kick up dust. Friends That I Don’t Like gives them room to explore it.Give it a full listen. Let the acoustic moments linger. And when “Space Invader” rolls around, turn it up a little louder.
Themla & James - Good By Now
Time heals everything? Thelma & James have a few things to say about that.
On “Good By Now,” the rising duo lean into the uncomfortable stretch of a breakup when the calendar keeps moving but your heart stays right where someone left it. You’ve given it time. You’ve waited for the ache to ease. Surely, by now, goodbye should feel a little less devastating. Except it doesn’t. Written by MacKenzie Porter, Jake Etheridge, Casey Brown and Parker Welling, “Good By Now” finds its emotional footing in that gap between expecting to feel better and admitting you still don’t. Even the title carries the sting: “goodbye” becomes “good by now,” turning the words that ended a relationship into a question about surviving its aftermath. It’s a clever turn of phrase with a very human hurt underneath. Part country, part folk, with a little Smoky Mountain mist hanging over it all, the song is haunting in all the right ways. There’s a lonely, mountain-town quality to its atmosphere, the kind that makes heartbreak feel especially heavy once the house gets quiet. You can picture the porch light burning long after there’s any reason to expect someone home. And at its center is an admission that doesn’t need dressing up: sometimes the passing months only give you more opportunities to notice who’s missing. Thelma & James let that feeling linger. There’s no tidy breakthrough waiting to make the sadness easier to swallow. The song sits with the frustration of being no better than the day someone walked out and the exhaustion of wondering why healing hasn’t caught up with the time you’ve put in. That’s what makes “Good By Now” stick. Beneath its sharp songwriting is a feeling plenty of people know but struggle to explain: being tired of your own heartbreak without being finished with it. Country music has always had room for a good leaving song. Thelma & James make a compelling case for the song that comes months afterward, when everyone assumes you’ve moved on and you’re still listening for a car in the driveway.
Cigarettes @ Sunset - Carolina Shakedown
Some songs practically come with a crowded room attached. “Carolina Shakedown” is one of them. Cigarettes @ Sunset take a childhood memory of Sunday barbecue and backyard bluegrass and give it enough grit to send it straight into a sweaty, shoulder-to-shoulder crowd. Joyful, restless and just a little rowdy, this feels destined to become a live-show staple, the song that gets a room moving before anyone thinks to put their drink down. For the Boone, North Carolina-bred band, that energy comes from somewhere real. Frontman Garrett Dellinger drew inspiration from afternoons when his grandparents welcomed fellow church-goers over for food and bluegrass jams on a makeshift backyard stage. You can feel the appeal of that scene: people gathered close, music carrying across the yard, an ordinary Sunday becoming something worth remembering. “Carolina Shakedown” takes that memory out on the road.
Produced by Taylor Kimball, whose credits include Wyatt Flores and Koe Wetzel, the track pushes bluegrass momentum through the raw, cathartic sound the band calls “Appalachian possum rock.” It’s a wonderfully scrappy name for music with this much personality. The roots run deep, but there’s plenty of dirt getting kicked up around them.
A freewheeling counterpart to their hometown ode “Appalachian Raised,” the song keeps home within reach as Dellinger wrestles with road life and trouble that apparently knows how to follow directions. His writing moves between affection for his upbringing and a mischievous awareness of his own habits. The mountain hymns are still in his head. So are a few ideas that might require forgiveness come Sunday.
That tension gives “Carolina Shakedown” its spark. There’s reverence here, but also a grin. Then Sarah Vann’s violin solo takes hold, giving the track a moment that feels built to light up a room. It carries the spirit of those backyard jams into the band’s rougher-edged world, connecting the music that raised them with the sound they’re making their own. Cigarettes @ Sunset have found something compelling in that connection. Their sense of place gives the song character, while their restless energy keeps it charging forward. And when “Carolina Shakedown” hits a stage? Expect that childhood backyard gathering to get a whole lot bigger.
Conner Smith - Fall Down
Just when you thought the Nashville kid might be settling in, Conner Smith comes back with a song that deserves an immediate spot on your playlist. “Fall Down” is a straight-up bop. The kind you put on for a quick listen, then run back because once apparently wasn’t enough. It captures that first-window-down, sweatshirt-weather feeling and gives it a hook worth carrying into the rest of the season. All your favorite things about fall feel bottled up here: the cooler air, the changing scenery, the excuse to take the long way home. There’s an easy warmth to the song that makes it feel familiar without wearing out its welcome. Put it on during an afternoon drive and suddenly the errands can wait another three minutes. Smith has a knack for making a song feel close to home, and “Fall Down” puts that quality to good use. There’s something inviting about it, a sense that you can step right into its atmosphere and stay awhile. The seasonal charm gets your attention, but the replay appeal is what makes this one stick.
And that’s why we’re calling it one of his best. A catchy song can make a strong first impression. A great one makes you want to bring it along: into the car, onto the weekend playlist, through the speakers while friends gather around the fire. “Fall Down” has that take-it-with-you quality. It feels suited to the little moments that end up becoming your favorite memories of a season. There’s also a confidence in how easily it lands. Smith gives us a song that’s fun to spend time with, and sometimes that’s exactly what a release needs to do. You don’t have to overthink the appeal. The hook hits, the mood settles in, and your hand heads back toward the replay button. The Nashville kid is back with something worth turning up. If your fall playlist has been waiting for its next staple, Conner Smith just made a pretty convincing case.
The Band Loula – “Other People”
Some songs catch your ear. The Band Loula’s “Other People” makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. The vocals alone are enough to stop you in your tracks. There’s a chilling emotional pull to them, the kind that makes you lean closer because the feeling carries as much weight as the words. And on a song this tender, that matters. At its center is a hook that sounds simple until you sit with it: “we finally fell in love with other people.” There’s an entire chapter of life tucked into that sentence. The relationship that ended. The time it took to loosen its grip. The strange realization that two people who once imagined a future together have found futures somewhere else.
That little word “finally” does some heavy lifting. It suggests a road to get here, a stretch when moving on might have felt impossible. Falling in love again becomes a milestone, carrying relief alongside the memory of what it took to reach it. “Other People” is healing with the scars still showing. That’s what gives the song its emotional depth. A new beginning can be beautiful and still leave you looking back. You can be grateful for the person beside you while remembering how deeply you once loved someone else. The Band Loula make room for those feelings to exist together, giving the hook a bittersweet weight that lingers. And those vocals bring every ounce of it forward. They give the song its goosebumps, making the movement toward healing feel earned. You feel the tenderness in the idea of finding love again, but also the vulnerability of admitting that the story before it mattered. This is the kind of perspective today’s country music needs more of: stories willing to follow heartbreak past the goodbye and into the complicated life that comes afterward. There’s plenty to write about in that space, especially when happiness arrives carrying a little history. The Band Loula find something powerful there. “Other People” lets the past leave its mark while making room for a future and delivers it with vocals that stay with you long after the song ends.
Blake Proehl - "Hearts Don't Break"
The athlete-to-artist storyline might get your attention. Blake Proehl’s music gives you a reason to stick around. Out now, his debut EP, Heart’s Don’t Break, brings a year of musical groundwork into focus. Across six tracks, Proehl introduces himself through infectious melodies, personal storytelling and a pop-country sound with enough R&B influence to give it a little extra sway. Yes, the former NFL player is having his Troy Bolton moment. But give this project a spin before you let the sports background become the whole conversation. There’s a promising artist here, and this collection gives him room to make that clear. Proehl’s appeal starts with how naturally he fits into this sound. There are glimpses of early Sam Hunt in the meeting of country storytelling and pop-and-R&B instincts, alongside flashes of Dustin Lynch’s easy melodic appeal. Those reference points help place him, while the project offers the fullest look yet at the personality he’s bringing to the mix. He makes a strong case for himself with “Wild Magnolia,” “Hearts Don’t Break” and “She Got It,” three standouts that deserve a spot on your first pass through the EP. Together, they give listeners an inviting entry into a collection built around songs that catch quickly and leave you wanting another listen.
That melodic instinct matters. Pop-country works best when the polish serves a song you actually want to carry around with you, and Proehl has a feel for that kind of accessibility. His music is easy to step into, with the country influence grounding the pop and R&B touches. The personal storytelling gives those melodies something to hold onto. On a debut, listeners are getting to know the person behind the songs as much as the sound itself. Heart’s Don’t Break brings the pieces he’s been introducing throughout the year together, making this feel like a proper opening chapter.
Then there’s Proehl himself. An undeniable natural likability, a gentle spirit and humility make him easy to root for. Paired with a natural stage presence, those qualities suggest someone comfortable connecting with people and willing to let that connection grow.
The transition from professional football to music makes for a compelling introduction, but the songs have to earn the next chapter. On Heart’s Don’t Break, Proehl gives listeners plenty of reason to turn the page. Come for the Troy Bolton storyline. Stay for “Wild Magnolia,” “Hearts Don’t Break” and “She Got It.” Blake Proehl is making a convincing case that this new stage suits him.
ALL COUNTRY NEWS
Country Music News & Entertainment
Country Music Country Music News Country Music Outlet Latest Country News Recent Country News New Country Music Newest Country Music New Country Music
Comments