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Mar 11, 2024 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

Lola Kirke has always straddled the line between country music and unabashed pop. Her 2022 album, Lady for Sale, perfected the formula in a series of bangers that found Kirke melding her twangy vocal pipes with big pop production and ‘80s effects on tracks like “Better Than Any Drug.”

On her Country Curious EP, Kirke abandons the pop sheen and brings the steel guitar and fiddle, going full country. Opener “All My Exes Live in LA,” which features First Aid Kit on background vocals, is a downtempo ballad with giant melodies and sweeping feel. “He Says Y’all” is a line-dance honky-tonk romp with lines like, “I like my boots clean and my boys dirty.” “My House” is a defiant declaration of independence. And “Karma” finds Kirke sharing vocals with Rosanne Cash in a beautiful ballad that fits perfectly into the pantheon of traditional country cheatin’ man epics.

Then in four songs and just a hair over 10 minutes it’s all over, leaving the listener yearning for more. Let’s hope in the future Kirke is more than just curious, and we get more where this EP came from. (www.lolakirkemusic.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10