Lambchop | A Review of Mr. M

Lambchop is a band from Nashville, Tennessee and they released their eleventh album, Mr. M on February 21. The band’s brand of music is a very palatable kind of country; it’s not the pickup truck lovin’, hoedown inducing country music you may immediately think when you hear the genre talked about. Lambchop’s form of country music is the sort which has been growing more popular with a broader audience for a number of years now. Mr. M, Lambchop exudes more of a lounge music vibe with a country foundation backed by an orchestra that creates an atmosphere of particular power and style.  Artists such as Texas’s Micah P. Hinson and his Pioneer Saboteurs and Vancouver’s Dan Mangan fall into the same category Lambchop would. These artists are a part of a seemly ever growing invasion of ornate and subdued folk/country influenced music that is slowly finding a captive audience, with Lambchop being the most established out of those mentioned.   

There is something about the combination of the songs sung low and slow by lead singer Kurt Wagner (he does this in a fashion that would make The Duke proud), only then to accompany the soft timbre of his vocals with orchestral interludes throughout nearly all of the album. That’s what you get with Lambchop’s Mr. M a kind of subtle journey peppered with memorable instrumental portions.  

Mr. M is the product of many years of experience from a band that came together in the now distant 1990s, and it shows in the way each track is confidently executed.

Key tracks on Mr. M are; Gone Tomorrow, Buttons and Never My Love.