Margaret Glaspy’s 2025 covers EP, The Golden Heart Protector, emerged from a spur-of-the-moment session in LA, working through some of her favorite tunes before she decided to record them. Her follow-up to that off-the-cuff collection, 2026’s I Am Both, is almost its opposite: a deliberate, precise effort. It’s a reminder of the unique POV that exists at the center of the California-born singer’s original work. Her voice sits boldly front and center on the opener, “Michigan,” where she scurries from the cold weather and shivers at the thought of riding her motorcycle on a winter day. “That Rose” features an equally powerful performance, with Glaspy alternating between growls and drawn-out notes that showcase her technical prowess as a vocalist. “James and Marie” begins with a tightly wound acoustic guitar melody that quickly loosens up, as Glaspy sings of a relationship gone sour. Her ability to tell a tale of abandoned love with so much beauty is a testament to her artistry. Our Favorite Lyric: “Reminder”: “Doing nothing is something I do too well/Hiding in plain sight is heaven, and it feels like hell.”