Summer is here — in spirit, at least. Summertime touring and festivals are about to hit full swing, and Nashville musicians keep on releasing records you’ll want to know better. The Scene’s music writers have eight new recommendations for you, so add ’em to your streaming queue or pick them up from your favorite record store. Some of our picks are also available to buy directly from the artists on Bandcamp. However, the Bandcamp Friday promotion — in which the platform waives its cut of sales for a 24-hour period — is on a summer break, and will return Sept. 6.
Kandace Springs, Run Your Race (SRP)
There’s both a brilliance and sadness to Kandace Springs’ Run Your Race. The title track is her homage to her late father, outstanding vocalist Kenneth “Scat” Springs, who died in 2021. It references both his youth as a track star and his importance to her as a mentor, influence and friend. Though it’s a new project, some of the songs like “So Far, So Near” and “Look” she originally penned as a teen, and she voices them with the vigor and command that are a benefit of maturity. The entire LP deftly juggles jazz flair and soulful passion, even on a powerful cover of Billie Eilish’s Barbie theme “What Was I Made For.” RON WYNN
Find Run Your Race on your favorite streaming service or at your favorite record store, and follow Springs on Instagram for updates.
Kings of Leon, Can We Please Have Fun (Lovetap/Capitol)
During their rise to international superstardom, Kings of Leon — brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill and cousin Matthew Followill — gradually evolved from the unruly Southern garage rockers who set the world on fire into the platinum arena rock act that has reigned for nearly two decades. Along the way, they lost some of the edge that fueled their initial success, and their records, although superior in some ways, reflected that. Most of the dozen tracks on their ninth studio album Can We Please Have Fun show the band successfully building on the polished, alt-rock sound they’ve become known for. But the Kings have not totally lost their youthful edge, as evidenced by the record’s two most interesting tracks. With arrangements that are more raw and manic than the rest of the record, “Nothing to Do” as well as the first single “Mustang” harken back to the band’s earliest intoxicating work. DARYL SANDERS
Find Can We Please Have Fun on your favorite streaming service or at your favorite record store, and follow Kings of Leon on Instagram for updates.
Emily Nenni, Drive & Cry (New West)
Aside from a cover of Terry Allen’s boisterous country classic “Amarillo Highway,” Emily Nenni wrote every song on Drive & Cry by herself, a first for the Nashville artist with three LPs now under her belt buckle. Her breakthrough record, 2022’s On the Ranch, saw her zigzagging across the country on a two-year, nearly constant tour with her backing band, aka country-rockers Teddy and the Rough Riders. Between all that driving, she found the time to, presumably, cry and write these hard-hitting, beautiful songs. The bright vocal delivery that’s synonymous with a Nenni song belies the fact that she’s often singing about how life can be so damn hard. Her incisive lyrics also prove that growing pains and change — and all the loves lost and gained — are worth experiencing and remembering in a country song. Nenni’s songwriting and indomitable spirit led to her triumphant Grand Ole Opry debut in May, an achievement well deserved. JACQUELINE ZEISLOFT
Single art: Qualls, "Tenderness"
Qualls, “Tenderness” and “Poe Man’s Chant” (Power/Beatroot)
On previous releases like All Is Well and Until We Meet Again, masterful rapper Qualls laid a lot of groundwork, getting introspective as he set himself up to be the person and artist he wants to be. The loosies he’s released so far this year focus on the fruits of those labors. “Poe Man’s Chant,” released in January, has groove and swagger to spare as Qualls puts MCs who want to act a fool on notice and puts his work ethic in the spotlight. April’s “Tenderness,” meanwhile, is all about celebrating romantic commitment; while it’s a top-notch slow jam with an unbeatable breathy hook from Shelldhn, Qualls brings the bars to this one too. STEPHEN TRAGESER
Find these tracks on your favorite streaming service and follow Qualls on Instagram for updates.
Bullshark, “Should’ve Known” and “Blooming” (self-released)
In the churning waters of Music City, all full of sand and dirt and glitter, Bullshark circles quietly. Songwriter and producer Sissy Dinkle’s baritone guitar sparkles low against Blood Root central figure Taylor Wafford’s spectral slides on their first singles “Blooming” and “Should’ve Known.” I imagine the narrator of “Blooming” singing to herself in the mirror; at the climax, Dinkle proclaims, “Sometimes I’m still afraid to look into your eyes / But I shouldn’t feel ashamed to live inside this body,” which makes for a gently fantastic trans bildungsroman. CLAIRE STEELE
Kelsey Abbott, The Cabin (self-released)
Indie rocker Kelsey Abbott’s latest EP chronicles a love’s rise and fall. Released in November, The Cabin is a deeply personal project, with each track a vulnerable chapter in Abbott’s two-year journey of love and loss. It’s a bewitching slow burn, with opening tracks “Does It Make Sense” and “Night Vision Goggles” recalling vignettes from a relationship that’s run its course, while “Weekend Baby” captures the thrill of fleeting romance. The gritty “Focus” and gentle closer “I Miss You Like I Miss My Mom” illustrate the tug-of-war between the need to let go and the desire to hold on amid the inevitable grief of heartbreak. JAYME FOLTZ
Find The Cabin on your favorite streaming service and follow Abbott on Facebook for updates.
Lori Triplett, When the Morning Comes (self-released)
Lori Triplett delivers complex life lessons against a backdrop of uncluttered folk music on When the Morning Comes. Released in March and produced by five-time Grammy nominee Paul Moak, the LP flows with a quiet strength and easy pop sensibility that turns Triplett’s difficult truths into common sense. At first blush, “Mexico” is a breezy postcard of good times with dear friends, but it slowly unfurls into a breakup song. “Things You Said to Me” is more direct, but no less devastating: a catalog of unfulfilled promises told with humor and bitterness. Triplett wrote this album amid a number of difficult experiences, and that pain is very much present on the album. But there’s also a stubborn shadow of hope on songs like “The Good in Us” and the transcendent “Night Rider.” The music itself goes down easy, with foot-tapping grooves and melodies born to be sung along to. But that doesn’t change the bitterness of the medicine: Sometimes life is tough, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. RACHEL CHOLST
Find When the Morning Comes on your favorite streaming service or at your favorite record store, and follow Triplett on Instagram for updates.
Erin Mat & Paul, Jesus + More (Tableaux)
The album title Jesus + More puts me in mind of praise music, but singer-songwriters Mat Davidson (aka Twain) and Erin Rae and multi-instrumentalist Paul DeFiglia have not gone CCM with this collection. The record features gorgeous covers, grounded in vocal harmony and acoustic instruments, of songs that explore the mysteries of spirituality and the complexities of existence. Sometimes the narratives intersect with religion and sometimes they don’t; sometimes they zoom in tight, and often they’re at cosmic scale. It’s a great introduction to fantastic songwriters you may not know or not know well, including Judee Sill, Blaze Foley, Dan Reeder and Big Kitty’s Clark Williams. The trio doesn’t try to answer the question “Just what am I doing here?” but their music is a good companion anytime you’re wondering. STEPHEN TRAGESER
Find Jesus + More on your favorite streaming service, at your favorite record store or via Tableaux Records' website. Follow Rae, Davidson and Defiglia on Instagram for updates.
