Top 10 Folk / Country Albums of 2023

For some time we have combined country and folk music into this list since they are on the fringe of what is normally reviewed here. The two genres have a great deal of stylistic overlap since pop country is not my thing, and I like folk music that is darker and more melancholy. These albums do not really give a damn about the Nashville status quo even when it comes to the artists, that are in more of a commercial spotlight.   These are not the coolest albums, but the best, fuck what other blogs say,.   After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year. 2023. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 country and folk albums of 2023.

10-Conny Ochs - "Wahn und sinn" 

It's been four years since "Doom Folk". The world has gotten weirder since then, so Och's German album makes perfect sense. Musically it's more orchestral than I expected. Sung in German, which is a harsh guttural tongue that does not always lend itself to melody. This awkward phrasing can be heard glaringly well/to a spacious mix that places his vocals at the forefront. There is a slight country feel to the lazy saunter of these songs. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/conny-ochs-wahn-und-sinn.html

 

9-Georgia Mooney- "Full of Moon" 

Australian singer Georgia Mooney feels like she fell from the cosmos of another time. There is a 60s pop feel combined with a dream pop-like atmosphere. Her delicate melodies are supple with each note gracefully ringing out.  Folk is also shown to be at the least an influence in her soul-baring balladry. This album is impressive what she does, and want to hear where her musical journey goes from this point. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/georgia-mooney-full-of-moon.html

 

8-Helena Deland -"Goodbye Summerland" 

The airy dreaminess of Helena's sound works really well. It reminds me of many indie singer-songwriters from the late 90s. The vocals are harmonized in a manner not unlike Azure Ray, with an undercoating of country haunting it.  It's pretty solid songwriting with her own identity superimposed on a familiar sound. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/helena-deland-goodbye-summerland.html

 

7-Rat Boys -"the Window"

There is a fair amount of noise around the raw edges of otherwise slicked pop bounce with a country twang to it thanks to the youthful voice of Julia Steiner, whose voice sometimes reminds me of Katie Crutchfield of Waxahachie. Chris Walla from Dead Can for Cuie produced this album, and this can mainly be felt in the dynamics of making the bigger parts rock more. The style of songwriting flows very easily and organically. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/ratboys-window.html

6-the Keening -"Little Bird" 

Rebecca Vernon's old band SubRosa singer did flirt with darkness. This love affair is reignited with her new project the Keening, which finds her partnering with With Mountain drummer Nathan Carson. This album proves an exercise in minimalism and restraint for him, as the drums give most of the spotlight to the vocals and orchestrated folk elements that weave atmosphere around them. I enjoy the mood, and the dark atmosphere it bathes you in.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/gothtober-keening-little-bird.html

 

5-Wednesday -"Rat Saw God" 

Karly Hartzman fronts this indie rock band that blends the sounds of the 90s into something compelling on many levels. She sings in a very convincing and emotive manner. There is plenty of rock used as a clamoring dynamic. It makes for a very well written and highly thought out album,

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/wednesday-rat-saw-god.html

  4-Chris Stapleton - "Higher" 

Stapleton was once the last great hope for country music. Others have emerged to help take some of the weight off his shoulders, but he is still a titan in the genre, so expectations are high for the new album. It opens with a thoughtful, soulful tune, that has an easy feel while leaning into the melancholic feel country music is known for. He brings the blues with him once more, and some great guitar playing.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/11/chris-stapleton-higher.html

3- Lydia Loveless -  "Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again" 

 Loveless's 6th album might have found her arriving at an iconic level of songwriting. It blends indie rock with country and folk in a very organic fashion. Other albums have attempted to do similar but her album feels the most genuine. This album caught me by surprise and I wish I had checked it out when it first came out.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/lydia-loveless-nothings-gonna-stand-in.html

2-Tyler Childers - "Rustin' in the Rain" 

Childers' sixth album finds him writing songs he thinks might appeal to Elvis. But not the King's "Hound Dog" persona, but Presley's early country roots. This is often done with the twang of the honky tonk, allowing the 32-year-old singer to belt it with his trademark brassy tenor. Lyrically clever, and always heartful, he never dials it in for the radio, and if it happens to have pop appeal it's an added bonus, not an objective, and certainly not the product of the Nashville writer's room

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/tyler-childers-rustin-in-rain.html

1-Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - "Weathervanes" 

Isbell's latest collaboration with his band the 400 Unit is a celebration of songwriting. His voice always finds the perfect place to be. While his solo album "Southeastern" is the masterpiece that this album is going to be measured up against, here he steers things into a more Americana-flavored rock rather than country music. There is a warmth to the album's sound that recalls many classic rock albums with a southern flare, but it is more personable than those. He is one of the best songwriters living today. He transcends country music and does his thing.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/06/jason-isbell-400-unit-weathervanes.html

Tyler Childers : " Rustin in the Rain"

 Childers' sixth album finds him writing songs he thinks might appeal to Elvis. But not the King's "Hound Dog" persona, but Presley's early country roots. This opens with the twang of the honky tonk opener, than finds the 32 year old singer belting it with his trademark brassy tenor. Lyrically clever, and always heartful, he never dials it in for the radio, and if it happens to have pop appeal it's an added bonus not an objective and certainly not the product of the Nashville writer's room. The ballad "Phone Calls and Emails" sounds like it could have come right out of the 50s aside from the fact he is referring to emails. 

Leave it to Childers to write a song that is the country version of ancient aliens with "2:8-10", which is sung from the perspective of a farmer seeing an angel arrival and deciding it's the end of the world. This offsets the gospel mood the music captures. He somewhat  breaks from theme as Kris  Kristofferson's "Hel Me Make it Through the Night" was already covered by Elvis in the 70s. So he is right Elvis would like it as he already did it. That fact aside Childers makes it his own, with an impassioned vocal that is far from the King's baritone, but works none the less. 

His band the Food Stamps, earns their pay with what they lay down for him on "Percheron Mules" that finds them dealing in very authentic Appalachian country. It is one of the album's most upbeat song and for people who like actual country music and not some of this trailer park pop the entertainment machine tries to pass off as country. "In You Love" is closest as he comes to appealing to the mainstream, which is an air tight ballad, that would work on the radio, but he makes the radio come to him, rather than pandering for it. "Space and Time" is another ballad , but it is hard to fault him for it as it works so well, you hear some lower notes at the edge of his range, which is a nice change. It bears that 50's swing to it that makes me think the King would have approved and perhaps given a couple of them his own take. It goes with out saying that if you can write a song for the King, it's a 10. 

the Top 10 Folk / Country Albums of 2022

Feeling depressed? Need a soundtrack to sitting outside by yourself? This year's current crop of folk and country albums provided that. As with years past I sort through the genre lists before making the overall top ten of the year list. The fact these artists made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Sure, you can bitch and complain about your favorite band not being on the list. However, I listen to five new albums a day so yes, I heard your favorite album and was not impressed. No, I do not care what you think about it. I do hope you can find your next favorite on this list and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out audio on these guys. Anyways here are the top 10 folk and country albums of 2022

10-Serpentent -"Ancient Tomes, Volume 1 Mother of Light"  

While Anne K O' Neill's dark folk project, might follow a long trend over the past decade of goth sirens, but there is an honest conviction that gives the feeling of earnestness to what she is doing rather than trying to be the next Marissa Nadler or Chelsea Wolfe. It is surprising to see she is from Seattle as there is depth that carries and Old-World European feeling. 

Abysmal Hymns: Serpentent : "Ancient Tomes, Volume I: Mother of Light"

 

9-Karin Park-"Private Collection"   

A fan of Park's earlier pop album and kept an open ear toward the work she has done since.  These are e songs she has re-envisioned and decided to record again with new arrangements that lay her vocals bear with only a piano or organ accompanying her.; She has a great deal of integrity as an artist to embark upon making an album like this when given today's current pop landscape we have artists when two dozen producers and another dozen songwriters helping them create product for Tik Tok, with not true artistry. The dramatically stripped-down minimalist approach does high light here voice. For the first two songs this formula works really well and showcases a richness to her voice I had now notice before and propels the tracks on raw talent

  

Abysmal Hymns: Karin Park: " Private Collection"

 

8-Angel Olsen - "Big Time" 

If this album was solely Angel Olsen doing retro country, then its strengths might play off the moments the horns sounds like they s from 60s Motown. They bring together an interesting cross section of sounds not unlike what country music did in the 70s which is my favorite decade of country music. However midway into this album she takes off the cowboy hat and it's back to business as usual, which works as well. 

Abysmal Hymns: Catching Up with 2022 : Angel Olsen :"Big Time"

 

7-Swans -"Is There Really a Mind?"  

These are the demos Gira released to crowdfund the new album, which would be a Swans album that is not stripped down and strummed out on an acoustic guitar, not to say they have not used those neo folk elements before, they just tend to work off the weird and loud, so this is a skeleton of the songs, yet they still work better than most younger bands fully formed sense of self. At the end of the day, it's about the songs and that is what this is. 

Abysmal Hymns: Swans: "Is There Really a Mind? "

6-Ryan Adams -"Chris" 

His 19th album. He is a great songwriter who has been around the block a few times. At this point he is who I listen to when most people would listen to Bruce Springsteen. These songs fall somewhere between his country folk and rock leanings. The strum of guitar falling very comfortably into his wheelhouse so much so you might dismiss it as him just dialing it in, but there is something more urgent about the delivery than what people who dial it in normally do. Maybe he is just faking it. There is more of a rock swagger in the guitar in some songs, while it might not be Adams at his most inspired. He is a songwriter, and he cranks albums out it seems once a year, but his dialing it in is better than most can they do when they try their hardest

Abysmal Hymns: Ryan Adams : " Chris"

5-Emily Jane White-"Alluvion" 

There is a dark tension to this album that moves with the pulse of intense atmosphere that is coupled with a floating ethereal melody. At first the undercurrent of darkness here might remind you of Chelsea Wolfe, but the overall vibe of the album has more in common with Marissa Nadler. Sometimes showing its brighter side to the second song. In some places the melodies flow like pop with an almost 90s rock drive to it. 

Abysmal Hymns: Emily Jane White : "Alluvion

4-Sharon Van Etten- "We've Been Going at the Wrong Way" 

She continues to perfect her brand of atmospheric folk rock, with a great dynamic build on the opening track. Piano plays a more prominent role on the second song. Her voice holding a hushed tension. She is capable of writing pop worthy hook and works well with the beat, but the organic nature of this albums strips things down in a way that proves more intimate and introspective to earn its place here

Abysmal Hymns: Sharon Van Etten: "We've Been Going at This the Wrong Way"

 

3-Orville Peck-"Bronco" 

Even in 2022 the novelty of being a gay cowboy is only going to go so far for so long, so he had to prove himself on this album. Which making the number three spot means he did. Peck has grown his sound since "Pony". His voice has filled out into a more confident baritone croon that owes in equal amounts to Johnny Cash and Elvis. He does include is his love for Elvis in the lyrics f, and his yodel " feels more fluid than when he did this on his earlier work. He also hits pretty solid notes from his chest register. There is a more organic feel when it comes to how the interplay of the music backing him. The guitar tones reverberate with pristine lushness than accent the Western in country western.

Abysmal Hymns: Orville Peck: "Bronco"

2-Tyler Childers -"Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven" 

The more gospel slant to what he does this time around would not work for me given my distaste for the Christian religion and really all religion, but there is something raw and honest about what he does that seems like more of an ode to his hillbilly past rather than a declaration of his current belief system. The first version certainty more of a honky tonk feel. If you were going to compare this to say Orville Peck, it is clear who the more authentic version of country music is.

Abysmal Hymns: Tyler Childers : 'Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven"

 1-Marissa Nadler-"For My Crimes" 

She continues down a path of hauntingly morose balladry. More ghostly than Lana Del Ray. More folk than country this time around, though hints of western sounds still color this album. This one had to slug it out for top spot against Tyler Childers in my head and came out on top as Childers experimented more and included some instrumentals where Nadler was more song focused thus earning the top spot, as she can write songs that stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone.  

Abysmal Hymns: Marisa Nadler : " For My Crimes"

Tyler Childers : 'Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven"

 

This is going to be a different format since for his most recent album Childers recorded three different versions of each song. They are assembled on three different discs. These versions are labelled as Hallelujah, jubilee, and joyful noise versions. I am going to break it down song by song and see how they stack up. I am just labelling these as 1,2,3, rather writing out the name of each description repeatedly. 

"Old Country Church" 

1- This has the kind of soulful swagger we heard coming from country music in the 60s and 70s. There is a gospel slant, but country music has its roots in southern gospel music, with many artists crossing over. There is a great deal of groove. 2- The second version is more orchestrated and carries a few more layers. Pretty close to the first 3- the 3rd is the most experimental and different, almost like a remix This is a jammed out instrumental with samples taking the place of vocals. 

"Can I Bring My Hound to Heaven"

Similar to opening track the first two versions find the main differences being the more nuanced second version that feels like it has more guitar and is giving the vocals a little more room. Strings accent certain transitions, but it has a similar flow.  The 3rd version going the way it went with the first song almost sounds like a dance remix from the 90s.

"Two Coats"

I am glad there is more of a focus on guitar on this one though the first version is just an instrumental. The second the vocals sit in the background like they are being sung from the back of the barn while the rest of the band plays outside. On the third version of this one it is clear; Childers takes some kind of psychedelics. It oddly breaks down in a way that gives the vocals more room.  

"Purgatory" 

This one is more traditional country though as the song progresses, he is jamming it out more with organ flourishes. He allows his voice to break in places on higher notes to create the feel that he is singing his heart, out which, he might be, it is a more soulful effort all the way around. Musically this would be a lot of fun live. The second version has the horns higher in the mix. It goes back to my earlier comparison of country music in the 60s and 70s. The third version is a totally different take on the instrumentation and is purposefully funkier

"Way of the Triune God"

This being a gospel take on what he does, normally would not work for me given my distaste for the Christian religion and really all religion, but there is something raw and honest about what he does that seems like more of an ode to his hillbilly past rather than a declaration of his current belief system. The first version certainty more of a honky tonk feel. If you were going to compare this to say Orville Peck, it is clear who the more authentic version of country music is. The second version is in some ways more stripped down, it feels like he is playing it in the streets of New Orleans thanks to the rag time horns backing him, the third version takes the New Orleans feel of the second version and remixes it into an instrumental.

"Angel Band" 

This was the lead single for this album. So far, I have preferred the other songs I have heard this far than this one as at least this first version is too gospel for my tastes, but he is good at what he is doing here. I will say paying attention to the lyrics and hearing I am not being preached at does make me like this one more than the first listen so it might grow on me. The first version might be marginally more straight forward than the second. 

"Jubilee"

The first banjo I notice is on this song. It seems like the first version is more jammed out. You have to respect that he could have come out and replicated his big singles that put him on the map and instead he went off and did his own thing. The second version finds a sitar replacing the banjo, and female vocals that sit out in the barn take the focus. The third version is an electronic remix. 

"Heart You've Been Tendin" 

Is the strongest song, it has an emotional urgency and is a little darker than what you normally get from him. The vocal melody might be his best yet, the groove of the song is strong. The guitar solo on this one rips. You can hear the Pink Floyd influence on this one, which how many times are you going to hear that said about a country song. The second version is softened by the strings, but it is pretty close to the original version which is what I believe the first version of these songs are. 

No matter how you slice this based off the first two versions of these songs I will round this up to a 10. I think the reasons of this have been made as this is a bold artistic statement for a country artist to made that puts him alongside Sturgill Simpson in this regard.