Margo Price - Midwest Farmer's Daughter

It’s no secret that over the last few years, thanks to acts such as Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and Kacey Musgraves, plus on these shores Ward Thomas and the Shires, I’ve become a bit of a country fun so I was happy to give the debut album of Nashville-based singer-songwriter Margo Price a shot.

‘Midwest Farmer’s Daughter’ sounds like a typical country album from the title and that’s pretty much what you get. Coming in at ten tracks and forty minutes, Margo’s country-drawl is familiar and the lyrical content of tough upbringings (“Hands of Time”) and XYZ are well-trodden topics, but it’s all delivered in a fun, friendly and catchy style. The lengthy opener “Hands of Time” with its steel-twangs has echoes of Kacey Musgraves, mixing a retro sound with more modern lyrical references, though with a stronger focus on the older style than Musgraves.

‘About To Find Out’ is a bit more upbeat mixing in more modern references amongst the more traditional style but having time in its three minutes for an extended middle-eight and piano breakdown. ‘Tennessee Song’ is one of my favourites on the album with a foot-stomping chorus and sing-a-long lyrics sheet. ‘Since You Put Me Down’ has a fifties-style swagger with its hefty double-bass and some gutsy lyrics and some well-produced extended instrumentals.

‘Four Years of Chances’, track five, is probably my favourite on the LP. Channeling Dolly Parton in her heyday, the reference to the title both literally and more metaphorically builds into a catchy hook that feels like the centre piece of the album.

‘This Town Gets Around’ has a ho-down style tempo and is another catchy number whilst it’s into slower territory for ‘How The Mighty Have Fallen’ which takes inspiration from Elton John and the Walker Brothers in its style, drum work and mix of strings. ‘Weekender’ is a bit more country both in music and lyrics, whilst ‘Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)’ is more mid-tempo but still full of swagger and delight. The album closes on the brief ‘World’s Greatest Loser’, a stripped back number that offers a sweet and touching end to the piece.

Overall ‘Midwest Farmer’s Daughter’ is a must for country fans. It doesn’t really break new ground and its lyrics are pretty familiar in the tropes of the music genre. Though it doesn’t have the same distinctiveness of more modern sounding acts like Kacey Musgraves it bridges between the styles well. Price’s voice is very listenable, the instrumentals well put together and the production clean and crisp, and there’s enough variety of tempo, style and vision to hold your interest.

(6.5/10)