In Review: Charley Crockett Lonesome Drifter, Lady Gaga Mayhem, My Morning Jacket Is
Plus Nels Cline's Consentrik Quartet and the comeback of Jessica Simpson
Charley Crockett—Lonesome Drifter [2025]
Lonesome Drifter is where Charley Crockett, the Texas troubadour who has spent the past decade rambling the byways of America, steps up to the big leagues. He's signed with Island Records and brought Shooter Jennings aboard to co-produce an album, moves that signal that Crockett is ready to bring his 21st Century cowboy act to a larger audience. Not that Lonesome Drifter breaks from either the sound or form of his earlier records, particularly the low-key grooves that underpinned both chapters of his 2024 album $10 Cowboy. Much of Lonesome Drifter simmers at a low boil, its relaxed rhythms feeling lanky, not mellow. The low-key groove accentuates the persona Crockett has carved out for himself. He’s a hard luck rambler, playing games he can’t win, always hoping to skirt trouble by heading off to the next town. Crockett is a sharp enough of a storyteller to know that old tales can sound fresh when spoken from a new point of view. Case in point is a new rendition of "Jamestown Ferry," a Mack Vickery & Bobby Borchers song popularized by Tanya Tucker that Crockett originally cut on Lil G.L.'s Honky Tonk Jubilee back in 2017. This new version is loose-limbed, letting its hardwood honky tonk slide into a Dixieland flourish by the fadeout. He performs a similar trick on "Never No More," giving the Patsy Cline chestnut a funky spin that complements the widescreen vista of "Lonesome Drifter" and after-hours roll of "Under Neon Lights." Where other country artists who've cut their teeth on the Americana circuit value the appearance of authenticity, Crockett opts for inventions, imaginations, and half-remembered truths, creating albums that play like midnight movies. It's telling that even with this cinematic bent Crockett keeps things intimate: he may be working on a larger canvas but he remains drawn to human stories, which gives Lonesome Drifter a warm palpable warm pulse.
Lady Gaga—Mayhem [2025]
Part of the problem with being an all-purpose entertainer like Lady Gaga is that it can be easy to rely on shtick whenever you play to a particular crowd. Gaga certainly has a clutch of personas at the ready: the torch singer, the serious actress, the art-pop diva.