From the opening strains of the stomping “Badlands,” it’s immediately apparent that Kevin Morby’s eighth album levels up his own ambitions, all the while sounding like a natural point of entry into his folk-rock journeyman career. Longtime listeners already know that Morby’s music can often sound lonesome and ruminative, like a long drive in the middle of the night. On the 13 tracks that make up Little Wide Open, his songwriting possesses a newfound robustness aided by producer Aaron Dessner (Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams), who linked up with Morby after the latter played support dates for The National in 2024. The cast of collaborators on Little Wide Open is no less, well, wide open: Alt-country legend Lucinda Williams lends her distinctive pipes to the midsection of epic rambler “Natural Disaster,” while MUNA vocalist Katie Gavin provides backing vocals on the fiddle-laden and languid title track “Little Wide Open.” Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath, and Hand Habits mastermind Meg Duffy further pitch in throughout to bring Morby’s clear-eyed travelogues to life.