Back in 2010, Caitlin Rose released her debut album Own Side Now, a critically acclaimed blend of classic country with accessible pop sensibilities laden with brilliant lyricism. Now, ten plus years on, she’s announced an anniversary re-issue of the album that comes coupled with a bonus 7″ featuring two new tracks.

One such track is “Whatchoo” – a b-side that we captured on WOTT Music back in July of 2020. We absolutely loved the track then and have a hard time understanding how it could ever have been considered a b-side! Regardless, it’s exciting that the track found a permanent place in the world as part of this reissue. The accompanying karaoke style video from Sarah Goldstein is a calming bit of VHS warping paired with some sing-along lyrics.

If you haven’t heard it, give Own Side Now a listen and consider ordering one of the vinyl packages. Oh, and follow Ms. Rose on the socials, you certainly don’t want to miss out on any future announcements.

Collaboration has always been King when it comes to hip-hop. The earliest days of the genre established sampling as an extremely valid form of creation and no other genre has been more open to “featuring” like-minded artists on one another’s tracks. Lately Nashville’s been seeing these types of collab’s taken to the next level. The latest from BeHoward and FU Stan, entitled “Dope Boy“, finds the two talented emcees not only working on a track together but an entire short film.

“Dope Boy” as a standalone track is a deep bass extravaganza that gives plenty of room for both BeHoward and FU Stan to shine on their individual verses. It’s an enjoyable listen that takes on entirely different meaning when paired with the official video, in which BeHoward and FU Stan portray Claude and Ray, two elderly gentleman looking to make a buck off a bottle of pills. They stumbled their way through a possible exchange before completely botching a sympathy purchase by over-asking on the price of the goods. No description of the piece could do it justice as the absurd acting and improvised exchanges between the two just simply must be seen to be understood. The duo’s ineptitude undermines the lyrics of the track which are primarily aimed at the cunning lifestyle of a dealer. Claude and Ray are anything but cunning.

It’s unclear if the track was meant to be satire paired with the video but, regardless, it’s a brilliant turn of play made even more impressive by how ridiculously enjoyable the characters are. As luck would have it, this isn’t a one off track. There is a full release between BeHoward and FU Stan looming on the horizon in the form of a Claude and Ray EP. If we’re lucky, there will be more videos following all sorts of additional bumbling misadventures. BeHoward and FU Stan are setting a new bar on what collaboration looks like.

We here at We Own This Town are big fans of Jordan Lehning. From our original introduction in 2007 via the band Eureka Gold, to his contributions on the sublime Make-out with Violence soundtrack to his plethora of solo albums over the years, he’s proven to be consistently enjoyable. He’s announced a new full-length album entitled Three Colored Walls (Tree Tone) for release on August 6th along with a fantastic new video for the track “Drunk Dreaming.”

The video, directed by the Duensing brothers, has the production values of a full-on short film coupled with an engagingly abstract narrative. The protagonist of the piece (Sari Hoke) awakes and beautifully stumbles through a dance of quilted characters and beasts. If there were a way to portray “Drunk Dreaming” on film, this would be it. Lehning, goggled and quilted himself, speeds toward the scene in a muscle car and is eventually ravaged by the dream figures.

Over on Backseat Mafia, where the video premiered, Lehning describes the song as “a cautionary fairytale that warns us against dwelling too long on things no longer attainable.” The Duensing’s video can certainly be interpreted as such, with Hoke tangling with the figures (the past) before escaping and barely looking back. All that said, it’s also just an enjoyable three and a half minutes that can be enjoyed devoid of interpretation or meaning. Sometimes a mysterious video can be just that, a mysterious video.

Lehning’s track that underlies the entire effort is exemplary of what we love enjoy about his body of work; it’s catchy and upbeat but with just the right dash of melancholy and foreboding. It’s a pop song but it’s layered and nuanced, a listening experience that bears repeating. It’s also a great anticipatory offering for the forthcoming Three Colored Walls album, one that we’re now waiting with bated breath to drop.