, the 2022 album that helped ascend the Americana ranks, benefited from its unadorned immediacy. Hardly a bare-bones work, it nevertheless played simply and directly, allowing to indulge in some straightforward Western swing alongside honky tonk and folk balladeering -- all sounds that code as authentic Americana. , its 2024 sequel, doesn't quite play that way. It's a lush, glossy affair that belies the fact that it was recorded in a swift five-day session in Nashville with , a producer who can conjure almost any sound from pop music's past. helps steer into the middle lane of mainstream country, relying equally on the neon-lit yacht country of the '80s and the oversized beats and hooks of the '90s. The combination feels fresh, not nostalgic, since the nods to the past underscore the complex emotions that flow through 's set of 12 original tunes. The slick production also serves one of 's larger goals: the soft, welcoming sound underscores that when they sing matter of factly about queerness, as they do on "One Night Stand," it's not subversive -- it's a simple fact of life. Apart from the closing "White Mule, Black Man" -- a folkie ballad delivered in a full-tilt mode -- 's sonics continually place in the middle of mainstream country, a place where they're musically quite comfortable. certainly still has their eccentricities -- they still gravitate toward plainspoken storytelling that's equal parts and , "Socialite Blues" is a swinging satire whose Dixieland feels learned through -- yet hearing them laying into the neo-rockabilly of "Plot of Land" with the same enthusiasm as they sing the ornate "Nancy," it's clear that needed a producer like to bring out the full, complex dimensions of their musicality. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine