Mercury Lane

It takes a certain kind of gumption to follow your heart. Despite being told by LA music executives to “lose [his] boots” and leave country music behind, Jimmie Allen didn’t give in to how others saw—or heard—him. He followed his passion for pop-country from 2017’s self-titled EP to his full-length debut, Mercury Lane, summarizing that struggle in “All Tractors Ain’t Green.” The song’s slow tempo bursts when Allen wryly sings, “Might go against the grain of that country boy model.” Elsewhere, he builds in moody electronic touches and R&B rhythms on tracks like “American Heartbreaker,” “Like You Do,” and “Back of Your Mind,” shifting his country sound into sultry territory while playing on subjects familiar to genre traditionalists—namely winning, then losing, the girl.