June 7, 2025
Round up at country music’s latest releases in 2025
The Castellows’ _Homecoming_ EP is a clear step up from their earlier work; if nothing else, someone finally upgraded the soundboard. The production is full and warm, the kind that makes acoustic guitars feel like they’ve had a proper breakfast.
But the vocals still feel emotionally distant, like someone singing you a love song while checking their watch. Their take on Patty Loveless’ classic "You Don’t Even Know Who I Am" lacks the raw ache it deserves, which is a shame. It's as if they’re singing it for the first time, and didn’t read the lyrics beforehand.
But the vocals still feel emotionally distant, like someone singing you a love song while checking their watch. Their take on Patty Loveless’ classic "You Don’t Even Know Who I Am" lacks the raw ache it deserves, which is a shame. It's as if they’re singing it for the first time, and didn’t read the lyrics beforehand.
This content adapted from the Wikipedia page The Castellows, licensed via CC BY-SA. Content retrieved was modified to fit the context and style of this story.
Sacha gets it mostly right, with minimal cheese
Sacha’s _Woman in the Mirror_ is surprisingly cohesive for an album that leans heavily into the pop-country blend. She doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but she at least paints it a new color. Her voice is smooth, confident, and refreshingly sincere without tipping into the kind of over-emoting that usually comes with key changes.
Think Jo Dee Messina meets a podcast on self-love, but with a better beat. The album might not convert the country purists, but it’ll win over anyone who likes a chorus they can belt in traffic.
Think Jo Dee Messina meets a podcast on self-love, but with a better beat. The album might not convert the country purists, but it’ll win over anyone who likes a chorus they can belt in traffic.
Kat Hasty’s charming mess of an album
Kat Hasty’s _The Time of Your Life_ is the musical equivalent of a handwritten letter, heartfelt, a little messy, and worth your time. Her songwriting shines with a rustic honesty, and her lyrics feel lived-in. But the vocals? Let’s just say they’d benefit from a gentle nudge in the right direction.
Kat Hasty
Leslie Jordan finds poetry in heartbreak
Leslie Jordan’s _The Agonist_ is a storytelling exercise wrapped in velvet. Singing from the perspective of her grandfather, yes, her estranged, possibly regretful grandfather, she weaves a narrative that’s both personal and puzzling. Her voice has an effortless grace, carrying lyrics that shift perspectives mid-verse with the ease of a good short story.
Leslie Jordan
This content adapted from the Wikipedia page Leslie Jordan, licensed via CC BY-SA. Content retrieved was modified to fit the context and style of this story.
Some albums worked, others need a nap
Not every release in the roundup deserved a standing ovation. One EP was compared to a poorly animated Star Wars battle scene, accurate. Each track sounded like a clone of the last, trudging along with predictable choruses and carbon-copy lyrics. Still, even there, the vocals showed promise.
Meanwhile, acoustic duo They (yes, that’s the band name) released something that could’ve been genius but got lost somewhere between a jam session and an existential crisis.
Meanwhile, acoustic duo They (yes, that’s the band name) released something that could’ve been genius but got lost somewhere between a jam session and an existential crisis.
TheThey
