Comes on bone white 2LP vinyl LP.
OVER THE PAST decade, Lainey Wilson has established herself as a Nashville force. The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year and recently-inducted Grand Ole Opry member has written songs for the likes of Luke Combs and Flatland Cavalry; she’s appeared on the modern Western Yellowstone after having songs of hers featured on the hit series; and she’s steadily released catchy, punchy albums that mash up Southern rock, soul, and classic Nashville ideals into a genre that she’s dubbed “bell-bottom country.”
Wilson’s finely-tuned lyrics and immediate hooks make the feelings she’s singing about feel massive and ready to bring in any listeners for comfort, particularly on the arena-ready drinking lament “Bar in Baton Rouge” (“The good thing about rock bottom/Is up’s the only way/I’m about to open up a can of healing this heartbreak,” she muses) and the keep-your-head-up ballad “Middle of It.” On the latter, she sounds like she could be singing to a former version of herself: “You were heartbroke that boy did ya wrong/Your pride took a hit but you wrote a hit song,” she sings in a sympathetic cadence that’s just knowing enough to imply her intimate familiarity with the situation.
While Whirlwind has its more playful moments, like the strummy depiction of puppy love “Counting Chickens” and the kick-him-to-the-curb stomper “Ring Finger,” it’s at its best when Wilson is in full-on power-ballad mode, showing off how her brassy soprano can buckle at just the right moments. “Call a Cowboy” is a dazzling ode to someone who’s “rock-steady-loaded, locked, and ready” that captures awe in its sweeping riffs and Wilson’s reach-for-the-heavens vocals; she cleverly hides that it’s actually a love song until just before it ends. “Good Horses,” a duet with fellow country disrupter Miranda Lambert, is luminous, with the two singers’ voices braiding as they trade commiseration about how they, too, need to run wild sometimes. And the title track is a love song that feels as big as a Western sky, with Wilson taking the central metaphor and twisting it into the serene declaration that “loving you’s a breeze.”
Wilson has established herself as one of country’s most appealing stars, her blend of songwriting chops and bubbly charm winning over audiences in Nashville’s community and in arenas. On Whirlwind, she lassos her Everywoman appeal and her skills as a songsmith and vocalist into 14 songs that feel ready for repeated jukebox plays at dive bars and honky-tonks all across the country (www.rollingstone.com)
