Lainey Wilson – Bell Bottom Country (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Reigning ACM New Female Artist of the Year Lainey Wilson makes the top country album debut this week with the release of her sophomore album, Bell Bottom Country. Coming in at No. 12, the record racks up 10K in total first-week consumption (4.3K album only/6.6 million song streams), according to Luminate data.

Having had a breakthrough hit in 2021 with Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ and its accompanying single “Things a Man Oughta Know,” Lainey Wilson offers something of a manifesto with its 2022 follow-up, Bell Bottom Country. Take the title slightly literally: it’s deliberately, defiantly retro, dredging up images of the 1970s, an era when country singers weren’t necessarily wearing bell-bottom jeans but rockers certainly were. Wilson simultaneously belongs to both camps, reviving some of the spirit of the outlaws and the hippie country-rockers that served as their counterparts. It’s a territory previously explored by the likes of Eric Church and Miranda Lambert, a pair of singers produced by Jay Joyce, who also helms Bell Bottom Country. Joyce’s sinewy yet nimble production is filled with muscle and color, its shifting sounds emphasizing how Wilson doesn’t stay in one place: she can be a defiant rocker but also a sensitive troubadour, a writer with a flair for melody and a weakness for puns, a singer whose sentimental streak is happily tarnished by a gritty twang. She occasionally leans into the rock aspects of her persona a bit too hard — even if she betters the original, there was no need for a cover of 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up?” — and she does show a fondness for country corn, yet those traits are offset by her knack for narrative and natural earthiness, qualities that help make Bell Bottom Country a compelling listen. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:
1-1. Lainey Wilson – Smell Like Smoke (02:48)
1-2. Lainey Wilson – Hillbilly Hippie (03:31)
1-3. Lainey Wilson – Road Runner (03:46)
1-4. Lainey Wilson – Watermelon Moonshine (03:28)
1-5. Lainey Wilson – Grease (03:07)
1-6. Lainey Wilson – Weak-End (03:28)
1-7. Lainey Wilson – Me, You, and Jesus (03:41)
1-8. Lainey Wilson – Hold My Halo (03:26)
1-9. Lainey Wilson – Heart Like A Truck (03:19)
1-10. Lainey Wilson – Atta Girl (03:26)
1-11. Lainey Wilson – This One’s Gonna Cost Me (03:13)
1-12. Lainey Wilson – Those Boots (Deddy’s Song) (02:50)
1-13. Lainey Wilson – Live Off (03:35)
1-14. Lainey Wilson – Wildflowers and Wild Horses (04:10)
1-15. Lainey Wilson – What’s Up (What’s Going On) (03:51)
1-16. Lainey Wilson – New Friends (04:15)