From the opening note of Orville Peck’s Pony, his respect for traditional country in the vein of Glen Campbell and Merle Haggard, a natural storyteller whose vignettes of love and all the anxiety that can come along with those feelings spill out of his guts in passionate fashion. Peck’s rich baritone soaked in reverb is authoritative and dramatic, and when he combines his country roots and embellishes them with bits of shoegaze, dream pop, post-punk, and gospel, the whole thing comes together in a way that feels transcendent. Pony is a genre-bending love letter to traditional country with alt-country bonafides in a way that is similar to Paul Cauthen’s Room 41, a sound that is familiar and yet completely alien all at the same time.
Standout Songs: “Dead of Night”, “Winds Change”, “Queen of the Rodeo”, “Big Sky”
Matthew. 