This week’s crop of fresh tunes includes a Post Malone/Blake Shelton collaboration, as well as a sterling barroom country collab from Ella Langley and Riley Green, and a bluesy, heartache-fueled song from newcomer Kashus Culpepper.
Post Malone and Blake Shelton, “Pour Me a Drink”
Post Malone currently continues his reign atop Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with his Morgan Wallen duet “I Had Some Help,” and from the sound of his new party-ready Blake Shelton collaboration, he looks ready to repeat his chart-topping trajectory. This radio-friendly track finds him ready to shrug off various tribulations, from work stresses to speeding tickets, in favor of Friday night plans with a barstool and a stiff drink. Their voices pair mightily, and it doesn’t hurt that, amid country music’s current nostalgia tilt, the song feels reminiscent of Shelton’s mid-aughts songs that lit up country radio. “Pour Me a Drink” is from Post Malone’s debut country album, F-1 Trillion, out Aug. 16.
Kashus Culpepper, “After Me?”
Newly signed to Big Loud Records, this Alabama native meshes blistering guitar and eruptive vocal talent on this bruising testimonial, as he sings of helplessly watching his ex-lover wed someone else. He inhabits a country-blues amalgam in similar musical terrain as country/Americana stalwarts such as Marcus King and Chris Stapleton, while infusing his work with his signature muscular, sandpapery growl. In the process, he towers in a lengthy list of artists finding enduring success with sounds expanding beyond the boundaries of mainstream country.
Ella Langley and Riley Green, “You Look Like You Love Me”
Langley takes the lead on this flirtatious barroom situation, launching into a spoken-word verse about spotting a potential lover on the dance floor and boldly stepping up to him and making a coquettish offer. Green follows by eying the situation from a male perspective, before Langley takes the lead again, advising listeners to take their own romantic risks. Winding guitar and saloon-tinged piano further fuel the song’s barroom vibe, while Langley and Green’s country drawls, confidence and humor make for an ace pairing. Green and Langley also wrote this country ditty with Aaron Raitiere.
Chase Rice, “Go Down Singin’”
In 2023, Rice reminded listeners that his songwriting capabilities extend beyond penning massive radio hits such as the Florida Georgia Line hit “Cruise” or his own “Eyes on You” when he released his remarkably introspective project I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go to Hell. Now newly independent after previously being signed with BBR Music Group, he distills his journey from his early days in Nashville, to finding success, to setting out on his own, into just over three minutes of detailed story arc. He traces his journey and the years he “left blood and sweat and tears up and down 16th Avenue,” before turning to his decision to strike out on his own as an independent artist, offering a clear-eye comprehension of the risks and rewards, but as he sings, “If I go down, at least I go down singin’.”
Tina Adair, “Let It Fall”
Following her time spent as part of bluegrass family band The Adairs, in addition to issuing solo albums and previously co-founding bluegrass group Sister Sadie, Tina Adair returns with her latest from her upcoming solo set. This Sarah Siskind-written song showcases Adair’s dynamic, gospel-soaked vocal inflections, while underpinning her versatile, powerful vocals with churning instrumentation from guitarists Cody Kilby and Pat McGrath, banjoist Scott Vestal, mandolinist Seth Taylor, fiddler Ron Stewart, reso-guitarist Rob Ickes and bassist Byron House, along with tightly-woven harmonies from Wes Hightower. Her upcoming album follows 2023’s Here Within My Heart.
Priscilla Block, “Bad Guy”
“Just About Over You” hitmaker Block turns the tables on typical heartbreak anthems with this new song, acknowledging that sometimes, “the dagger gets thrown by painted nails.” Block has a flair for a well-crafted turn of a phrase, and here she muses that there are times when the relational offender “is a bombshell blue-eyed, do you dirty blonde.” This uptempo track also makes use of Block’s polished yet conversational vocal tone. Block teamed with David Garcia, Cole Taylor and Trannie Anderson on the song, which is from Block’s new five-song EP, PB2.
