Country

The latest album from the Detroit collective, Doop and the Inside Outlaws, packs meaningful messages over somber strings.

The album opens up with "Heartbreaker," which reminds us of the very simple truth: What goes around, comes around. Next up, lead singer Don "Doop" Duprie lets his love know that he'll wait up for her to come around, in "Give It to You." Doop is then joined by Alison Lewis for a duet concerning the one that got away, and thinking, later in their lives, if there might still be a chance for their love. "Sittin here" is a tune that will resonate with many Detroit residents, and American citizens as all, as the lyrics talk about unemployment, and uncertainty of the future. Doop's given up the crazier side of the touring lifestyle, but he still encourages it, on the album's most spirited track, "You Gotta Rock 'n' Roll Sometimes." The album wraps up by offering a few last, simply told messages. "Hard Way" tells the tales of a few different people's lives who never listened to advice from the wise, and the consequences they endured. "The Preacher's Kid" tells a tale of a girl who desperately wants to escape the stigma of being her father's daughter, but couldn't shake the label. The second to last track, "Shorty's Song," resonates with anyone who's been in one of life's valleys, and how they'd rather be left alone. The album finishes on a high note, asking listeners to remember to pay their respects to the hardworking men and women of America, in "Salt of the Earth."

Miranda Lambert has fans going on an Internet scavenger hunt to find songs off her new album, Four the Record. The latest, “Dear Diamond,” hit the internet yesterday on Billboard. “Dear Diamond,” is the fourth of five hidden tracks online currently from Lambert’s upcoming album, Four the Record.

Lindi Ortega’s Little Red Boots comes as a bit of a surprise. It is a bit of a leap to say that a young, female, Canadian singer sounds like Johnny Cash, but that is the first comparison that comes to mind, especially on country-rockers such as “I’m No Elvis Presley”. Ortega plays a brand of acoustic rock that draws heavily from Nashville circa 1950-1970, and it comes as a welcome alternative to modern pop-country.

"Alone with You," the newest single from country singer Jake Owen, breathes some semblance of life into the country genre. What's meant to be a simple and moving style of music is often bland and manufacturedly clean, but "Alone with You" avoids this pitfall.