Margo Price dives deeper into the psychedelic space expanding upon her last album Strays.
Slated for an October 13th release via Loma Vista Records, Margo Price releases her three-act follow-up album Strays II, with Act I available today.
Price curated Strays with her husband, Jeremy Ivey, after they took a six-day mushroom trip that opened their eyes to the messaging and sound portrayed in Strays. For Act I of Strays II, they went back to the studio that was home to the formation of the first album and joined forces again with producer Jonathan Wilson but also brought in heavy hitters like Buck Meek and Ny Oh.
The sound produced in Wilson’s Topanga Canyon studio is carried through in Act I with rustic sounds that highlight elements of fundamental rock while still keeping Price’s folk Americana roots.
The title track, “Strays,” is included in today’s release, noting how she met her husband.
“The title track is the story of how my husband Jeremy and I met and fell in love in Nashville two decades ago. I wrote most of the words, and Jeremy wrote the chords and melody.
It also reflects how we have always tried to stay true to who we are as people:
‘Love and pain it comes in waves, but it was quite enough in those early days, we were wild as wolves, my darlin’, we were strays.'”
Accompanying “Strays” are two other singles, one titled “Closer I Get.”
Margo says:
“‘Closer I Get’ (co-written with Jeremy Ivey) was originally meant to open this double album with the line, ‘Being alive costs a lot of money, but so does dying.’
I’ve always thought it was unfair that the moment we are born, we immediately start racking up debt just for existing.
This song was conjured from the ashes of our initial psychedelic trip – sometimes your perception and depth of field changes depending on where you’re at in life.”
And the third, “Malibu.”
“‘Malibu’ was written with Mike Campbell in his Malibu home after Jeremy and I had driven through the canyon fleeing a forest fire to get my guitar from our Airbnb.
I had the start of the song and brought it to him looking to finish it out. I wanted to write something with a country funk/Bobbie Gentry feel, a good long rambling story about the minutiae of the day, like ‘Ode to Billy Joe.’
Mike added the long ‘California’ yodel and the bridge, and was exactly what the song needed. My favorite line is ‘love and grief are a package deal, the more you have, the more you feel.'”
The first part of the project highlights the already critically acclaimed sound established on Strays and notes to fans that Strays II will be a phenomenal follow-up piece of work.
With messages that detail the feelings of trying to make it while keeping a balance for a sense of freedom and sacrifices made to ‘have it all,’ the album will be filled with complex yet beautiful tracks.
Strays II
Act I: Topanga Canyon
“Strays”
“Closer I Get (feat. Ny Oh)”
“Malibu (feat. Jonathan Wilson, Buck Meek)”
Act II: Mind Travel
“Black Wolf Blues”
“Mind Travel”
“Unoriginal Sin (feat. Mike Campbell)”
Act III: Burn Whatever’s Left
“Homesick (feat. Jonathan Wilson)”
“Where Did We Go Wrong”
“Burn Whatever’s Left”
With being in the studio for this album’s recording and collaborating with Jessie Colter on her upcoming album, Margo Price has stayed more than busy. Adding her extensive tour dates on top of this makes me wonder how she does it all.
Here are the upcoming cities you can see her in.
8/24 – London, UK – Rough Trade East
8/25 – London, UK – Lafayette
8/26 – Leicestershire, UK – The Long Road
9/8 – Raleigh, NC – Hopscotch Music Festival
9/9 – Bristol, TN – Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
9/10 – Lexington, KY – The Burl County Fair
9/11 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall #
9/12 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom #
9/14 – Bloomington, IN – The Castle Theatre #
9/15 – Madison, WI – Live On King Street #
9/16 – Bayfield, WI – Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua #
9/17 – Des Moines, IA – Wooly’s #
9/22 – Camden, NJ – XPoNential Music Festival
9/23 – Noblesville, IN – Farm Aid
9/24 – Franklin, TN – Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival
9/28 – Harrisburg, PA – Harrisburg University (XL Live)^
9/29 – Northampton, MA – Academy of Music^
9/30 – North Truro, MA – Payomet Performing Arts Center^
10/1 – Bridgeport, CT – Sound on Sound
10/3 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom^
10/5 – Charlottesville, VA – John Paul Jones Arena*
10/6 – University Park, PA – Bryce Jordan Center*
10/7 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena*
10/27 – Huntsville, AL – Orion Amphitheater!
11/3 – Scottsdale, AZ – Dreamy Draw
*supporting Chris Stapleton
#w/ S.G. Goodman
^w/ Brit Taylor
!supporting Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
