I'm certainly not the biggest country fan on the planet, but there are certain things about well done country records that you will rarely find elsewhere. Richmond Fontaine is a band well-versed in great country albums, and this, their swan song, is another in a great line. It pulls off this sad, drunken working man aesthetic perfectly, and it fits whether their talking about life in the rural plains or life in the bustling city. The music itself is tearjerkingly beautiful, with sparse acoustic guitars and drumming forming the perfect backdrop for vocalist Willy Vlautin to use his half-sung, half-spoken delivery. It's almost as if, rather than singing a folk tale, he's narrating real events that are most certainly brought to life by the lyrics. It's quite the somber album, too, with lovely pianos and heartbreaking stories around every corner. It's an appropriate and phenomenal end to one of the best bands in alt-country.
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