Margo Price -- Strays

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Margo Price begins Strays by declaring that she's been to the mountain and back, a proclamation she pairs with a stylized, amorous throb that's equal parts new wave and classic rock. That statement and that sound make it clear that Strays finds Price continuing to wander far afield from the traditional country of her 2016 debut Midwest Farmer's Daughter, developing a distinctive synthesis of a variety of styles that can't quite be pegged as Americana. Sharp, incisive songwriting remains at the heart of her music, allowing Price to weave different sounds and rhythms into her probing, emotionally open songs. With tracks "Lydia" and "Landfill," a pair of searching, nocturnal, neo-folk songs that serves as a kind of epilogue at the end of the album, Strays ends on a somewhat uneasy note that is ultimately a sign of Price's confidence: Sometimes a melancholy finale suits a good time. ~Stephen Thompson, allmusic.com