The Lone Bellow took something of a road trip around the American Southeast to make What a Time to Be Alive, the indie-folk band’s sixth studio album. The Nashville-based outfit first decamped to western Kentucky to write with collaborator Peter Barbee before trekking down to Muscles Shoals, Alabama, to record the new material, which they tracked live together under the guidance of the band’s Brian Elmquist. Those regional influences—Appalachian folk from Kentucky, left-of-centre country from Nashville, Southern soul from Muscle Shoals—find their way into these dozen songs, which build off the stomp-clap folk that first brought the band notoriety to expansive effect. “I Did It for Love” takes cues from Fleetwood Mac with its driving beat and rich harmonies, while “No Getting Over You” brings a soulful sultriness to the band’s folk-forward instrumentation. Closer and title track “What a Time to Be Alive” is sweet and spare, sounding almost standardlike in its simple production and clear-eyed message of lasting love. The album also includes a cover of the classic Dolly Parton/Kenny Rogers duet “Islands in the Stream”, leaning into the twang of the original while adding lush rootsiness.