Americana or roots music is a genre that's constantly being expanded thanks to groups like Murder By Death, who here play a sort of prog Americana where dissonant piano, mournful cello and curious effects are as much a part of the music as beds of steel guitar and the occasional loping country rhythm. The band seems to be at their best where they also incorporate a bit of a pop bounce into their sound, like on "Solitary One," where singer Adam Turla, the glue throughout, sings over a bed of horns and lurking, eerie-sounding organ, only pausing long enough for a bridge of psych-y guitar to add to the ominous overtone. "Send Me Home" is given more of a straight reading; the song about the loss of wanderlust plays out to reverb guitar and homesick horns set to a basic mid-tempo rhythm. "Natural Pearl," a twangy cowboy rocker, is perhaps the rootsy-est number on Big Dark Love as it easily conjures the image of Turla singing it as he rides through the dusty Texas plains on a horse. Tons of twists and turns on this album and the constant surprises are part of what makes it so much fun. Get the album here.

Jim Ed Brown
In Style Again
Plowboy Records

He's been a member of the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50-years and even a bout with lung cancer couldn't keep him away from the venerated stage for too long; Brown took a four-month leave to undergo treatment but came right back as soon as the cancer went into remission. Now Brown's dedication to his craft is also on display with the vibrant new album In Style Again, an effort that opens nicely with "When the Sun Says Hello to the Mountain," a cut that features harmony vocals from Jim Ed's sisters Maxine and Bonnie. Vince Gill also guests on the album, singing background vocals on the classic country shuffle "Tried and True." Despite having weepy steel guitar as one of its components the title cut is, with its orchestrated background music, done in the smooth country style that artists like Ray Price often worked in. But much of the album, highlighted by tunes like "Am I Still Country" and the bluesy "Older Guy," resonate with the much beloved sound of country as it was in the '60s. Get the album here

Sam Morrow
Ephemeral
Forty Below Records