Plains – I Walked With You A Ways (2022) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Plains - I Walked With You A Ways (2022) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz] Download

Hitting play on the debut album from Plains, the duo composed of Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson, we’re immediately teleported into a world of Southern sunsets, wide open spaces, and the unapologetic nature of Country music.

Plains began out of Crutchfield’s and Williamson’s mutual love for each other’s music and after trading albums (Saint Cloud and Sorceress, respectively) in early 2020. Feeling that it was time to have a separate project that could reflect a different side of her creative inspirations, Katie felt that Jess was the perfect fit for a collaboration, and they set off to create I Walked With You A Ways.

Written between Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Marfa, the album was recorded in Durham, NC with collaborator and producer Brad Cook. The creative magic of only a few vocal takes, tracking with a band comprised of Spencer Tweedy and Phil Cook, gives the album a feel of fresh, on-the-spot conception. The trust and history of Crutchfield and Cook’s collaborations (Saint Cloud, Great Thunder EP) set the tone for this new container of spontaneity and experimentation.

And that’s the thing about Country music, and what so much of this album nods to – from Waylon and Willie, to The Judds, The Chicks, Trio, and beyond – these are groups that are formed out of family and friendship, that lyrically take their listeners on a voyage of sorrow and hope. Crutchfield’s sharp, honest edge of truth telling paired with Williamson’s ability to paint the scene with candles, plains, sunsets, and small Texas towns is one of the strongest parts of this album.Twangier than most Americana, and at once more traditional and cooler than most contemporary country records, the first album from Plains—Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee and Texas singer-songwriter Jess Williamson—is what would’ve been called “alt country” 25 years ago, before that catch-all fell out of style. It immediately feels as comfortable as a perfectly worn-in old denim jacket. There are shades of both artists’ solo work, for sure: Opener “Summer Sun” is as breezy and welcoming as Waxahatchee’s excellent “Can’t Do Much,” with the added bonus of Williamson (not to mention evocative scene-setting: “When the summer sun melts candles/ I dig out the wick”). The two reference a slew of great duos, including Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham—both in vocal harmony and guitar—on the groovy break-up song “Problem With It”: “If it’s all you got, yeah/ It’s all you gave/ I got a problem with it/ If you can’t do better than that, babe/ I got a problem with it,” they sing, even the lyrics befitting Fleetwood Mac. Crystal-clear “No Record of Wrongs” recalls the unjustly overlooked Belle Brigade (who themselves often sounded like a Buckingham-Christine McVie tribute band), while “Hurricane” echoes The Wreckers, with Williamson and Crutchfield sounding charmed on lines like “I come in like a cannonball/ I’ve been that way my whole life/ Sweet as honeysuckle/ When you want a pocket knife.” “Bellafatima,” with its romantic border-country swoon, is something like Freakwater polished to a high-brass sheen. Expanding the ranks, drawling and warm-hearted “Line of Sight” brings to mind The Chicks. Ballad “Easy” offers a balm of pragmatic, chin-up reassurance: “You’re not going to believe it/ When you shake off/ What’s weighing down heavily/ But it’s not going to be easy.” And memorable “Abilene,” which exudes a cool, The Band-style of country, probes the new American dream of escaping to an easier town and way of life—and trying to put the ache of breakup and “What if?” behind you when it doesn’t work out. “Young lovers like to dream/ We’ll settle down and make a good team/ The Main Street was cute and the rents there were cheap/ But I was too much for you and your Abilene,” Williamson leads. Classify it as you will, but I Walked With You A Ways is the kind of country record that country music needs more of. – Shelly Ridenour

Tracklist:

1-01. Plains – Summer Sun (02:32)
1-02. Plains – Problem With It (03:32)
1-03. Plains – Line of Sight (03:37)
1-04. Plains – Abilene (03:03)
1-05. Plains – Hurricane (03:34)
1-06. Plains – Bellafatima (03:45)
1-07. Plains – Last 2 On Earth (02:53)
1-08. Plains – Easy (02:35)
1-09. Plains – No Record of Wrongs (03:07)
1-10. Plains – I Walked With You A Ways (02:55)

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