New Albums
WILLY MASON
Already Dead
COOKING VINYL
7/10
Dusty and intimate alt.country from US troubadour
After getting excellent notices when still in his teens partly thanks to the blessing of Conor Oberst, Mason continued to accrue superior co-credits – he’s worked with Mark Lanegan, Dan Carey, The Chemical Brothers and Brendan Benson among others – without quite breaking through on his own. This first solo album since 2012 sees the songwriter combining lo-fi country with contemporary textural sonic trickery. But his own now more careworn voice is the key ingredient, bringing renewed pathos to tracks like the groove-laden “Reservation”, the beleaguered “Oh My Country” and upbeat closer “Worth It”.