Ashley McBryde will release her sophomore album – Never Will – tomorrow. Following her debut record Girl Going Nowhere, the album is one of the most hotly-anticipated releases this year. McBryde does not disappoint, sonically and lyrically it is a tour de force, imbibing elements of rock, country and Americana in a stunningly unique album. We review the album here and reveal our stand-out tracks.
Ashley McBryde’s debut album was one of those records that came out of nowhere. Many were completely unfamiliar with her before the release, but she earned accolade after accolade, winning a CMA for New Artist of the Year, an ACM for New Female Vocalist of the Year, a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album, amongst many more. The album was one that will doubtless stand the test of time, rammed full of high-class songwriting and vocal talent. She had quite a name then to live up to with the release of her sophomore album Never Will. This album has delivered and more. It is complicated in its’ artistry, tender in its’ expression and adds an increasing rock element that suits McBryde down to a tee.
For the album, McBryde partnered up again with formidable producer Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Little Big Town, Tenille Townes). Joyce’s back catalogue was needed in bridging the gap between the more classically country tracks (‘Sparrow’) to the bombastic rocking tracks (‘Voodoo Doll’), for this record covers huge distances sonically and it needed a masterful producer to tie this all together into one coherent project.
Opening track, ‘Hang In There Girl’ is a powerful opener, with McBryde singing advice to a girl she sees at the edge of the road that ‘it’s gonna be alright.’ Written with Jeremy Bussey, the track is a bombastic opener that is bound to be a heavy hit live, and firmly sets out the sound of the record – country entwined with heavy rock elements.
‘One Night Standards,’ by contrast, was the craftily chosen first release from the album, bridging the gap between her two records. A co-write with Nicolette Hayford and Shane MacAnally, McBryde truthfully sings ‘I don’t give a damn about the morning after… Let’s just stick to the one night standards.’ The track is the least rock-edged track on the album and seems built for a road-trip, couched in breezy country production, with McBryde’s signature stunning and distinctive vocal.
Moving on to the meat of the record, ‘Shut Up Sheila’ is riddled with quiet anger, at a woman ‘Sheila’ telling them how to grieve – McBryde retorting through the song that this is the way they can grieve if they want to. ‘Shut up Sheila / This here is a family thing / And ain’t nobody bought you a ring.’ The track feels almost painfully personal in its intensity that sets the stage for later track ‘Voodoo Doll.’ This is the genius moment of the record, where McBryde brings out her most raw and rock vocal, screeching to the high points. This is a track that makes you sit up and take note. It is new territory for McBryde, moving in an increasingly rock direction, particularly vocally. She is not leaving behind country for this rock-fuelled track, but building layers on that sound. McBryde screams in quiet anger about being cheated on, ‘You know how this town talks / But I didn’t hear a thing / I just had a feeling rattling my bones.’ The climax of the record is when McBryde lets go of all control on her vocal on ‘I keep smelling cigarettes’ and every hue of emotion is laid bare. So too, in later track ‘Martha Divine,’ McBryde sings of wanting revenge on her father’s lover. ‘Martha Divine / You put your hands on the wrong damn man this time… And it ain’t murder if I bury you alive.’ Although the track brings back the country theme of ‘scorned women,’ McBryde takes it one step further in the revenge plot here that feels far more rock n’ roll in tone – just look at the music video that brings the first three released tracks from the record together.
The pace of the record is mellowed out by tracks including ‘Sparrow’ and ‘First Thing I Reach For.’ ‘First Thing I Reach For’ provides a moment’s reprieve between the two most intense tracks on the record. This is the closest to a classic country drinking song that you’ll find on this album, putting both alcohol and bad decisions with men in the same bracket. ‘Another night of bad decisions / There’s one still laying in my bed.’ The track is driven by the thrumming backing track of electric guitar and double bass throbbing along that form the heart of the song. By contrast, the pace of the record moves into heartache on track ‘Sparrow,’ that is a stunning tale of homesickness and returning home. McBryde uses the poignant reminder that sparrows always return home and sings about missing her family while out on the road, using the sparrow as her persona. ‘It ain’t fair though / How you miss the ground when you’re out here in the sky.’ McBryde does seem at her most tender in the record when she is talking about her family, so too in later track ‘Stone’ written in dedication ‘to the memories of Sgt. Clay McBryde and Air Force E-6 TSgt David Stone.’ McBryde goes through all the complicated stages of this grief in this quiet heart-wrenching track, about her anger at his death and the burden she now carries. ‘We were cut from the same stone / Yeah there’s a lot of things that should be written in one / But your name ain’t one of them / So, I carry one and it’s a heavy one.’ This is one of the masterstrokes of production in the record, stripping the track back with a touch of reverb to make it yet more poignant. Lyrically, this is where McBryde has always excelled, in her ability to go right to the edge in her songwriting, her ability to lift the veil and make her audience feel a part of her life and her inner psyche.
‘Velvet Red’ is another pleasantly surprising moment on the record, where McBryde brings her bluegrass roots back into play in this story song about forbidden love. ‘She was the mayor’s eldest daughter… He was a poor boy down in that holler.’ The track does feel quirky and slightly jarring in the context of the album, sonically not quite fitting with the texture of the rest of the record. Indeed, the most surprising track on the album is ‘Styrofoam’ – the album closer. It’s a weird and quirky song written by Randall Clay. It’s the weakest moment on the album, and is definitely the oddest moment on the record. Who would have guessed a story about the creation of styrofoam would round out McBryde’s sophomore album? The track is odd and again doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the record. However, that is what McBryde has delivered within this record, varying textures and surprising notes to make you realise she can not be pigeonholed or underestimated.
Finally, the title song ‘Never Will’ reads as the direct sequel to the title track of Girl Going Nowhere. Where in Girl Going Nowhere, McBryde put her finger up at her doubters in thinking she’d never ‘make it.’ In ‘Never Will,’ McBryde continues the theme, stating that she will never sell out ‘I didn’t, I don’t, I never will.’ With a heavy guitar backing, McBryde’s voice soars on this track, reverting back in the final chorus to a vocal and drum that gradually builds up to the climax in the track that is sheer magic.
The record is classically country, but McBryde has been brave enough to imbibe a lot more sonic diversity into this record than on her debut. While we could definitely do without ‘Styrofoam’ and potentially ‘Velvet Red’ too, they have definitely added an element to the album that elevates it, giving it a quirk and a flaw to fall in love with. While not for everybody, these tracks will be favourites for somebody. McBryde is strongest on this record when she lays herself bare, either vocally (Voodoo Doll) or lyrically (Stone). The result is a quirky and miraculous masterpiece, that is luxuriously ‘different’ and that is its real magic.
Editor’s Picks
Voodoo Doll
Stone
Martha Divine
