The best country albums of 2018
Image: Photo: Kacey MusgravesPhoto: Ashley McBryde Photo: Colter WallGraphic: Libby McGuire Music Features Best Of 2018
From one angle, the country music narrative in 2018 was distinguished by consistency. Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s easygoing soul-twang confection “Meant To Be” spent a staggering, record-setting 50 weeks atop the Hot Country Songs chart, while the vast majority of award winners and chart-toppers are all familiar household names. But dig a little deeper and it becomes clearer that the country-music landscape is less monolithic than it’s ever been. Women once again stretched the genre’s boundaries and wrote indelible songs—even if things such as festival lineups, the albums charts, and radio spins once again didn’t reflect these creative leaps—while newcomers such as Kane Brown and Ashley McBryde provided refreshing spins on mainstream country. If anything, it’s most precise to say that country music is a big tent under which Americana, roots, indie-folk, alt-country (and all variations in between) now comfortably coexist, as reflected in the 10 albums below.
Courtney Marie Andrews, May Your Kindness Remain
May Your Kindness Remain is one of those rare albums that truly has it all: soulful arrangements, timeless production, and most importantly, a songwriter at the height of their powers. Courtney Marie Andrews’ voice elicits the same devastation at a whisper as it does at a belt—with true grit, she slow-burns the story of a Mexican immigrant on “Border,” and swells with heartache on the path to reunion during “Long Road Back To You.” [Matt Williams]
Brandi Carlile, By The Way, I Forgive You
Brandi Carlile unfurled a masterpiece this year, a jangly, orchestral album that could stand alongside classics from Joni Mitchell and Dolly Parton. Carlile’s rich timbre sings sagas about the addiction-plagued “Sugartooth” and the tragic life of “Fulton County Jane Doe,” but most compelling is the autobiographical “The Mother,” perfectly capturing how parenting instantly changes who you are—“The first things that she took from me were selfishness and sleep”—and how you wouldn’t change back for anything. [Gwen Ihnat]
Brent Cobb, Providence Canyon
“I think you can write songs that mean something,” Brent Cobb told The Fader this year, “but they can groove too.” Damn, can they ever. Providence Canyon’s country funk conjures a simmerin’ Southern summer so vividly that you can feel the sweat collect on the back of your neck, exploring Cobb’s Georgia home, the murder of Wayne Mills (“The King Of Alabama”), and the only reason worth doing anything: love of the game (“When The Dust Settles”). [Matt Williams]
I’m With Her, See You Around
Although there was never any doubt that I’m With Her would create a sterling debut album—after all, the band’s lineup features A-list songwriters and harmonizers Aoife O’Donovan, Sara Watkins, and Sarah Jarosz—See You Around is greater than the sum of its parts. Highlights include the sinewy folk-blues of “I-89”; the stirring, crystalline folk-pop of “Pangaea”; and a stunning take on Gillian Welch’s “Hundred Miles” that begins with haunting a cappella vocals. [Annie Zaleski]
Ashley McBryde, Girl Going Nowhere
One of 2018’s breakout stars, Arkansas-born Ashley McBryde splits the difference between barnstorming classic rock and hardscrabble outlaw country. On one end of the spectrum is the raucous “Radioland,” which sounds like a Bruce Springsteen outtake misplaced in the ’70s; on the other is the subdued “Southern Babylon,” a stripped-down, soulful ballad with ghostly pedal steel and shivering drums. [Annie Zaleski]
Lori McKenna, The Tree
Lori McKenna has been one of folk/Americana/country’s songwriting masters for some time now—she’s got two Best Country Song Grammys—and The Tree, her bestselling album to date, further cements her reputation. “You Can’t Break A Woman” is a shattering, understated account of love’s erosion in the face of substance abuse, and “Young And Angry Again” rages against the dying of the light, a paean to the wildfire of youth. [Matt Williams]
Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour
Golden Hour is full of sweet-voiced love songs and candid self-acceptance, but Kacey Musgraves stays on the right side of cloying. Stunners like “Slow Burn” and “Oh, What A World” exploit the liminal place between country and pop, with shimmering melodies that move between synth and pedal steel. Bittersweet songs like “Space Cowboy” and “Happy & Sad” use plainspoken lyrics to talk openly about anxiety and relationships, while “High Horse” blends, to beautiful effect, old-country imagery with a danceable kiss-off. [Laura M. Browning]
Pistol Annies, Interstate Gospel
Talk about a welcome comeback: Pistol Annies’ refreshingly honest third album, Interstate Gospel, chronicles smart life changes and bad decisions alike, via a deft combination of winking wit and hard-fought wisdom. There’s the cheeky “Got My Name Changed Back,” an ode to reclaiming your life after divorce, and the pedal-steel-and-electric-brimming “Best Years Of My Life,” a song that vows to make the best of an unpleasant situation despite deep regrets. [Annie Zaleski]
Carrie Underwood, Cry Pretty
Carrie Underwood turned a traumatic year into a triumphant sixth album, pouring her heart out on Cry Pretty’s title track, adding torch songs (“Low”) and odes (“Southbound”) to her roots. Like Underwood’s 2015 album proclaimed, she’s a storyteller, crafting poignant narrative songs about the tragedies of gun violence (“The Bullet”) and alcoholism (“Spinning Bottles”). These tales make celebratory anthems like “Love Wins” and “The Champion” all the more exultant. [Gwen Ihnat]
Colter Wall, Songs Of The Plains
If it weren’t for the studio production values, Songs Of The Plains might have been recorded while sitting around a campfire on a frozen Canadian prairie. (Producer Dave Cobb did actually put the mic next to a campfire for “Night Herding Song.”) Spare instrumentation and a throaty baritone have already earned 23-year-old Colter Wall plenty of comparisons to Johnny Cash, but Wall’s songwriting is the kind of frontier poetry that Cash himself might have covered. And although he draws from some of country’s deepest roots, Songs shows Wall is on his way to building his own folk mythology. [Laura M. Browning]
Listen to songs from these albums and our other top picks from 2018 on Spotify.
33 Comments
Yawn
Yes. You’re very boring and we all agree.
With all of the accomplishments in the last almost two years (Tax and Regulation Cut, Judge’s, Military, Vets, Etc.), soon all albums released in America will be the best country albums!!!
Hey, thanks for this list! I don’t listen to country radio except for KHYI out of Plano, TX – khyi.com really, ‘cause I’m in California. And I miss a lot of song IDs; I’ll hear something and think I will remember who it was but then I forget because I’m old.
Is that a Texas Country station or a country station in Texas, haha?
the great Brett Dillon
No Wheeler Walker Jr. on this list?! If songs like “Save Some Titty Milk For Me”, “I Sucked Another Dick Last Night”, or “Anal & The Dishes” can’t get him some recognition, I don’t know what will!
Spare instrumentation and a throaty baritone have already earned 23-year-old Colter Wall plenty of comparisons to Johnny CashWas all prepared to kindle a heretic fire, but clicked on the video and damn. Kid is good. Please lose the Post Malone-looking beard though.
That Kacey Musgraves album is INCREDIBLE. Absolutely top-notch production and songwriting. I’ve been listening to all the (great) tunes in this article but hers was the one that gave me goosebumps.
No ashley monroe? A great mix of gospel and Americana made it the best country album of the year in my opinion. Plus that voice…
You know she’s in Pistol Annies, right?
The only country I heard that I liked this year was the new Wild Feathers album…and I’m not sure they are even country.
They DO wear the hats tho.
Thanks alot
No prob. Wish more people would hear them.
Absolutely love Th Wild Feathers album this year— I saw them live at Ohana Fest and they killlllllled it, as they kids say. If you consider Eagles country-is stuff to be capital C Country, then sure they’re country. Americana is a better label for them.
You guys should peep Dick Stusso. His Hardly Art debut was fucking fantastic.
Here’s some more: John Prine, Amanda Shires, H.C. McEntire, Buck Meek, Half Stack
Gotta give some love to Joshua Hedley’s “Mr. Jukebox”, great throwback country album put out on Third Man Records.
Hell yes. Great album. The title track and “Let’s Take A Vacation” are among the best songs of the year.
Thanks for the tips, I’ll try out Brandi Carlile. The Colter Wall album is here, but yet unheard. Courtney Marie Andrew’s album too, but I thought, while it had great songs and great singing, it just sounded bad, bad mastering?
The absence of Sarah Shook from this list absolves me of ever having to trust AV Club again.
Sarah Shook is great! Loved Years even though it didn’t make our final list.
I would have thought that job was accomplished by the descending of the AVClub into a mouthpiece for Generation Woke.
By The Way, I Forgive You is a transcendent album. It’s my favorite of the year regardless of genre. There’s been very few albums that have resonated as deeply with me emotionally as this one. Its best quality is that it wears its earnestness on its sleeve on every song, both heartbreaking and redeeming. It’s simply a beautiful album.Courtney Marie Andrews, I’m With Her, and Colter Wall are all on my best of the year list. If we’re going to be big tent and cover the Americana genre, I would also recommend the following:The Milk Carton Kids – All the Things I Did and All the Things That I Didn’t Do Pharis and Jason Romero – Sweet Old ReligionTrampled By Turtles – Life is Good on the Open RoadThe Stray Birds – Let It Pass
If you like Courtney, check out Lindsay Lou (and the Flatbellies)!I saw Courtney, Lindsay and Margo Price live this year, and I honestly couldn’t tell you who put on the best show of the three.That said…Jade Bird is 100% taking over this list next year, once her full-length hits.
Thanks for the Lindsay Lou rec! This album totally rules.
Brandi Carlisle’s feet are massive.
Garrett T. Capps – In The Shadows (Again). Krautrock-tinged space country for smoky honky tonks. This guy is doing exciting things, highly recommended.
I’ve just got into the new Amanda Shires record, and can’t believe it didn’t make the cut. It’s REALLY good folks.
Amanda is fucking unreal.
Considering that it opened by first calling FGL and Bebe Rexha country, then conflating Kane Brown and Ashley McBryde as equally “refreshing” contributors to the genre, I was surprised by how great this list is!Courtney is absolutely unreal live.Only glaring omissions (besides Shook) are Jason Eady, Mike and the Moonpies and Lindsay Lou (Southland is an absolute game-changer).Also, Jade Bird blew Colter’s ass out of the water when she opened for him in Boston. Kid’s gonna be unreal.
I guess being from Texas we have a different perspective….most of these artists I would expect to hear on the pop radio or indie stations…..poor Kacey Musgraves has been ruined and they are turning her into another Taylor Swift…..some up and coming country artists worth checking out would be The Vandoliers, Joshua Hedley, Charley Crockett, Harmonica Sam,
Saw Charley open for Turnpike a couple years ago – talented guy, but the songs tend to get a little same-y