The Georgia-born artist shows wisdom beyond her years on her sophomore LP. You’d be forgiven for thinking Willow Avalon was a long-established artist instead of a relative newcomer to the country scene. The 27-year-old Georgia-born singer-songwriter released her full-length debut, 2025’s Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell, just a year before this sophomore collection, but Avalon’s music and her artistic identity reflect those of a musician well beyond her years and experience. Pink Pocket Pistol is, as its name suggests, a plucky, potent listen, thanks both to Avalon’s genuinely unique voice and her off-kilter perspective on love, life, and everything in between. Avalon opens the album with its title track, a dusky, bloody affair that sets the stage for the dramatic, often surprising tunes to come. “Hickest Woman,” a collaboration with Texas trio Midland, shows off Avalon’s playful sense of humor, while her vocals take on the agility of Ashley Monroe and the sass of Miranda Lambert. “Raining Inside” builds off a cascading melody with echoes of Fleetwood Mac as Avalon dresses down a lover whose “dumb ass committed treason.” Fellow acclaimed up-and-comer Kaitlin Butts joins Avalon on album highlight “Hypothetically Speaking,” a body-burying jaunt that sounds like “Goodbye Earl” as performed by ’70s Dolly and Loretta. The final guest on the album is none other than Jason Isbell, who duets with Avalon on “Cardinal Sin,” a sweeping, string-laden song about falling in love out of wedlock.