Tanya Tucker - "Sweet Western Sound"

This is fine wine artistry

I cannot properly convey just how excited, and yet terrified, I have been since seeing this album was coming out. Her 2019 effort, “While I’m Living”, felt like catching lightning in a bottle. It was an amazing album, and I actually introduced a Redditor to it last year, and his response after listening to it was largely a shit-fit over how much he agreed. So I have been hoping Tanya, old as she is (she’s 64 currently), could do it again. But I also know how much that’s asking.

But Tanya Tucker is in full-blown renaissance mode, and this is evident early on in this album. The intro track is only about 40 seconds long, and is performed by Billy Joe Shaver (an even older Country musician). Thirty seconds into “Kindness”, though, it’s clear that Tanya and the team she has surrounded herself with (primarily Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings, who are listed as producers and have writing credits for several tracks each; they are also behind Tucker’s 2019 album) are absolutely on fire.

The only track which features Tucker as the top writing credit is “Letter to Linda”, a tribute to her friend, Linda Ronstadt. Though the line “Rest easy Linda” is misleading - Ronstadt is still alive and kicking currently - the song is otherwise heartwarming.

Tucker’s age is evident in every moment of the album, giving added weight to songs like the aforementioned “Kindness”, “Ready as I’ll Never Be”, and “When the Rodeo is Over (Where Does the Cowboy Go?)”, which serves as an apt, sorrowful closer steeped in metaphorical foreboding. Vocalists don’t age out as young as rodeo cowboys, but they ultimately reach a point where their voice is a shadow of its former self.

The album is beautifully mixed. The accompanying instrumentation is elaborate and sometimes incredibly subtle. If you’re listening closely, there are a lot of brilliant little moments. “Sweet Western Sound” isn’t quite as perfect as “While I’m Livin’” was. But it’s good enough to be placed in the Teal bucket for now.

Rating: Teal Blue