Joey O’Neil - Ever Ahead (2020)

As a whole, it can be argued that modern country music has become over-saturated. The formulas used to create the next hoedown-banger have now been the same for years, in turn creating a country-tainted cloning facility that endlessly pipes out similar song after similar song. Luckily, many acts have recognized this phenomenon, or lack thereof, and have incorporated other genres, ideas, and quirky shticks into the fold, making the more underground side of western music as diverse as ever. One of the faces of this movement is the newly established Joey O’Neil, who sets up folk, lo-fi, and country music on a polyamorous blind date and finds out they’re all compatible on her latest release, Ever Ahead.

In Yukon-based Joey O’Neil’s sophomore LP, she taints the still water that is new country music with a signature blend of songwriting that echoes the very foundation old-school country was built on. Writing about topics like her “trusty steed,” which is her faulty old truck, O’Neil is literally drawing straws from the hay bale of classic genre stereotypes. The catch is, though, she’s doing this intentionally, delivering an ironic but all-the-while enjoyable experience in her plot-focused record.