Montana-born country belter Stephanie Quayle emerged from Covid lockdown with this eponymous collection of eight songs that celebrate romance, family and the power of killer guitar solos. Cuts like the luminous “I Want the World for You” and the plush “The Kitchen” update the rock-ballad ideal for 2020s Nashville, adding fingerpicked guitar and nods to faith and family to their midtempo grooves. In addition to her unabashed romanticism, Quayle has a talent for tilting phrases on their head to pleasant effect: “We Buy Gold” turns a pawn-shop come-on into the linchpin for a simmering commitment anthem, while “Light My Way” adapts the vengeance-tinged aphorism “may the bridges I burn light my way” into a confident, hopeful boast.
- Whitney Duncan
- Ashley Monroe
- Tenille Arts
- Jenny Tolman
- Abby Anderson