New Country Releases Rankdown Thread

[bboat11]

10. "By Heart" - Stephanie Quayle

Total: 274
Average: 12.45
Std Dev: 6.33


taylor - 4
🌺CountryLineDancer - 4
Kris Kringle - 4
.indulgecountry - 5
SHOOTER - 7
austin - 8
ClevelandRox - 8
someguy - 9
tim - 10
lady𝓐fan - 10
LBTrocks - 11
George Strait Junkie - 12
superdave3556 - 12
fearlessarrow - 15
Darkest Hour - 15
Kanenrá:ke - 16
d3vin44 - 16
razorshark - 18
castleoblivion26 - 21
bigfan101 - 23
bboat11 - 23
zaclord 🌈 - 23


kw9461

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
29
Chasing After You
Give It To Me Straight
It’s ‘Cause I Am
Left Right
No Shade
Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’
Should’ve Known Better
The Great Divide

[bboat11]

After realizing that y'all missed having "By Heart" in the January rd, I decided to sneak it into the February rankdown. I'm kinda regretting it though, because I still find it to be easily the most mediocre female song in this list, and I personally am quite disappointed to see it in the top 10 over any of the other songs we just lost tonight, lol. I think I might just hate the production most of all, because the drum beat is too repetitive and loud. That snare hit on 2 and 4 is way louder than necessary for a song that is meant to be more of a subdued mid tempo like this.

[bboat11]

9. "The Great Divide" - Luke Combs ft. Billy Strings

Total: 266
Average: 12.09
Std Dev: 6.91


tim - 1
Kris Kringle - 2
ClevelandRox - 4
Darkest Hour - 5
superdave3556 - 6
austin - 7
LBTrocks - 7
Kanenrá:ke - 7
George Strait Junkie - 10
castleoblivion26 - 10
bboat11 - 10
someguy - 13
lady𝓐fan - 13
fearlessarrow - 13
razorshark - 15
.indulgecountry - 17
bigfan101 - 19
zaclord 🌈 - 19
🌺CountryLineDancer - 20
SHOOTER - 21
d3vin44 - 23
taylor - 24


kw9461

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
29
Chasing After You
Give It To Me Straight
It’s ‘Cause I Am
Left Right
No Shade
Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’
Should’ve Known Better

[bboat11]

"The Great Divide" was our very first #1 contender, as it held down that pinnacle position for four consecutive lists early on! It unfortunately managed to sink for the entire submission process, but still never left the top 10, making this one of the strongest competitors in this rankdown.

This is really great, imo! I have been getting rather sick of Luke Combs' big radio friendly hits lately (as have most of us, lmao), but this one is just different enough to stand out to me. He apparently does bluegrass-infused music really well! I'm excited to hear the rest of his bluegrass project when he gets the urge to release it someday.

[LBTrocks]

Chapel hart weren't good, that song sucked lol sorry not sorry

[SHOOTER]

I like this song more!

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Laure Duski and Stephanie Quayle deserve top 10 for sure.

Glad my request Leave Each Other Alone didn't do too poorly, and happy that participants like d3vin44 or castleoblivion26 enjoyed it. I adore Jess's voice and the melody and the harmony of the song is magnificent. And yes bboat11, I can hear the similarities between this and Need A Bar Sometimes, which I also really enjoy these days.

[Darkest Hour]

15. Ashley Monroe making Lana Del Rey-ish music now...and it feels like a natural progreesion from some of the sexual tracks from Sparrow, but some thing is missing from this song that works for LDR.
14. A pop punk throwback that actually has the edge...and it got tanked lmao. Not even my top favorite Kalie Shorr songs but it stands out in this rankdown easily.
13. I don't like either vocals.
12. This reminds me of good The Chicks or Kacey Musgraves (pre-Golden Hour) songs. Love the free and easy mood in this.
11. I like how her vocal soars in the chorus, even though the rest is kinda there.
10. I don't feel the lyrics much.
9. This would be better as a Billy Strings song tbh.

[Darkest Hour]

Apr 2, 2021 23:02:01 GMT -5 SHOOTER said:

I like this song more!

The drums are a bit too loud but otherwise, really fun song and video!

[austin]

Apr 2, 2021 20:56:04 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

austin literally said in his PM that "Amy" reminded him of early Avril Lavigne like that was a BAD thing!!!!! That early-Avril vibe is precisely why I loved this one so much!!

You misunderstood me. I also love early Avril. While I did call this an abomination, what I meant was it sounded like if Avril went country and her country album sucked. Like this artist was copying Avril but forcing it into Country.

I did slam "Amy" but definitely not Avril!

[austin]

"Amy" is easily the worst thing I have ever heard in these New Release Rankdowns. Absolute garbage.

[.indulgecountry]

Glad Stephanie Quayle was able to sneak into the top 10! She has a fantastic voice and is among my favorite of the newer females making music right now.

Apr 2, 2021 23:02:01 GMT -5 SHOOTER said:

I like this song more!

This. Much better than "I Will Follow," which is so forgettable.

[SHOOTER]

Apr 3, 2021 9:12:28 GMT -5 austin said:

"Amy" is easily the worst thing I have ever heard in these New Release Rankdowns. Absolute garbage.

[bboat11]

8. "No Shade" - Brooke Eden

Total: 243
Average: 11.05
Std Dev: 6.50


LBTrocks - 1
austin - 4
Kanenrá:ke - 4
SHOOTER - 4
castleoblivion26 - 6
razorshark - 6
.indulgecountry - 6
bboat11 - 7
d3vin44 - 7
lady𝓐fan - 8
fearlessarrow - 10
Kris Kringle - 12
bigfan101 - 12
🌺CountryLineDancer - 12
taylor - 12
zaclord 🌈 - 14
George Strait Junkie - 15
Darkest Hour - 17
ClevelandRox - 19
superdave3556 - 20
tim - 23
someguy - 24


kw9461

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
29
Chasing After You
Give It To Me Straight
It’s ‘Cause I Am
Left Right
Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’
Should’ve Known Better

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Glad to see Brooke Eden back.
Still wish my fav Act Like You Don't was a hit for her..,

[bboat11]

Brooke Eden has always been one of my favorite newer ladies, because her voice is just sooooo powerful and soulful! Her material usually takes a little time to grow on me though, and "No Shade" is no exception to that, so I was not exactly surprised to see this do so poorly at first. Fortunately it was able to make a huge comeback near the end, climbing all the way up to the top 10 and holding steady at #8!

I kinda thought her career was already over, but in February she randomly dropped "No Shade" and announced that she had taken a bunch of time off for her own health, and ended up falling in love with a woman and was ready to come back happier than ever!!! And I LOVE that she is so happy now, and imo it really shows up in "No Shade". From the very first line you can tell that there is a little something different about her sound. And I think she sounds countrier, tbh! The song is undeniably still filled with pop elements, but there is a twang in her voice that wasn't always there before.

"No Shade" is apparently the first of a trilogy of new songs that she has recorded to tell a "story". So we'll be seeing her for the next couple months! "Sunroof" came out in March, and I'm assuming the 3rd song will be coming soon in April.

[bboat11]

7. "It's 'Cause I Am" - Callista Clark

Total: 242
Average: 11.00
Std Dev: 7.25 (4th largest)


bboat11 - 1
LBTrocks - 3
ClevelandRox - 3
bigfan101 - 4
zaclord 🌈 - 4
George Strait Junkie - 4
razorshark - 5
lady𝓐fan - 7
d3vin44 - 8
Kanenrá:ke - 9
Kris Kringle - 9
taylor - 10
superdave3556 - 11
SHOOTER - 12
fearlessarrow - 12
.indulgecountry - 13
someguy - 18
tim - 19
Darkest Hour - 20
castleoblivion26 - 22
austin - 24
🌺CountryLineDancer - 24


kw9461

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
29
Chasing After You
Give It To Me Straight
Left Right
Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’
Should’ve Known Better

[bboat11]

I am loving Callista Clark so far!! I have said this multiple times by now in this song's single thread, but I found "It's 'Cause I Am" to be pretty meh at first, but then I fell in love with it when I listened to the rest of her EP!! Her voice is so cool, especially for only being 17 years old. I love how this song has like two distinct halves to the chorus melody that fit perfectly together. (There's the melody of the "I can't help that I'm one of a kind" section, followed by the "you want a one-dimensional woman" section, and they are both very different melodies, but one evolves so naturally into the other). It's evidence of a true musical mind that I am SO excited to see what might have in store for us as she hones her craft and gets better and better!

"Heartbreak Song" is soooooo much better than "It's 'Cause I Am" though, and you can definitely look forward to ranking that one next month

[d3vin44]

Okay, both of these gave me STRONG Maren Morris vibes!

[bboat11]

6. "Left Right" - Hannah Dasher

Total: 233
Average: 10.59
Std Dev: 7.23 (5th largest)


superdave3556 - 2
Kris Kringle - 3
tim - 3
razorshark - 4
ClevelandRox - 5
d3vin44 - 5
Kanenrá:ke - 5
🌺CountryLineDancer - 5
George Strait Junkie - 7
.indulgecountry - 7
bboat11 - 8
LBTrocks - 8
SHOOTER - 8
Darkest Hour - 8
lady𝓐fan - 14
taylor - 16
castleoblivion26 - 18
fearlessarrow - 20
austin - 20
bigfan101 - 22
zaclord 🌈 - 22
someguy - 23


kw9461

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
29
Chasing After You
Give It To Me Straight
Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’
Should’ve Known Better

[bboat11]

Imagine calling yourself a "country" fan, putting on this certifiable country JAM, and thinking "nah I hate this." "Left Right" has everything that makes country music so great! There's witty wordplay, there's a line-dance friendly catchy melody, there's undeniably country vocals and instrumentation... It goes without saying that this was a top 10 contender for the entire submission process, and was even a top 5 contender for the majority of the time! This one was Kanenrá:ke's suggestion, and it's safe to say that the majority of us enjoyed its inclusion!

[bboat11]

The Top 5!!!

29 - Carly Pearce
Chasing After You - Ryan Hurd ft. Maren Morris
Give It To Me Straight - Tenille Arts
Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ - Lainey Wilson
Should’ve Known Better - Carly Pearce


How's this going to play out??!

[bboat11]

5. "Give It To Me Straight" - Tenille Arts

Total: 222
Average: 10.09
Std Dev: 4.93 (2nd smallest!!)



bboat11 - 2
🌺CountryLineDancer - 3
lady𝓐fan - 4
zaclord 🌈 - 5
George Strait Junkie - 6
razorshark - 7
taylor - 7
castleoblivion26 - 7
bigfan101 - 7
LBTrocks - 9
superdave3556 - 10
someguy - 10
Kris Kringle - 11
Kanenrá:ke - 11
.indulgecountry - 11
Darkest Hour - 14
tim - 15
ClevelandRox - 15
d3vin44 - 15
austin - 15
fearlessarrow - 18
SHOOTER - 20


kw9461

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
29
Chasing After You
Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’
Should’ve Known Better

[bigfan101]

Good finish for Tenille.

[bboat11]

I know some people find her to be a bit on the bland side, but I am turning into one of Tenille Arts' biggest fans around here. Some of her early stuff was a bit on the bland side, but lately she has been getting better with each new release imo! With "Somebody Like That" poised to potentially become her first #1 hit this month, and "Give It To Me Straight" being really well-liked so far, buzz for her has never been higher, and I am really excited to see what the future holds for Tenille!

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

I'm very pleased that at least one of my Canadian queens is in top 5.
Give It To Me Straight is a perfect follow-up single to Somebody Like That.

Left Right by Hannah Dasher is a jam as well!!!

[SHOOTER]

Left Right is an f'ing jam!! My second favorite discovery!

Tenille is pretty so there's that.

[bboat11]

4. "Chasing After You" - Ryan Hurd ft. Maren Morris

Total: 206
Average: 9.36
Std Dev: 6.08


zaclord 🌈 - 1
.indulgecountry - 2
fearlessarrow - 2
taylor - 2
superdave3556 - 3
someguy - 4
d3vin44 - 4
castleoblivion26 - 4
Kris Kringle - 7
bigfan101 - 8
tim - 9
austin - 10
lady𝓐fan - 11
ClevelandRox - 11
LBTrocks - 12
Kanenrá:ke - 12
🌺CountryLineDancer - 16
razorshark - 16
SHOOTER - 17
Darkest Hour - 18
bboat11 - 18
George Strait Junkie - 19


kw9461

SPOILER: Click to show

{Songs Remaining}
29
Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’
Should’ve Known Better

[bboat11]

I LOVE the guitar tone in "Chasing After You" Other than that though, the song is pretty bland. It is undoubtedly going to keep growing on me and be one of my top 30 favorite hits of the year, but I'm more excited for Maren's new solo music to come after this tbh.

[bigfan101]

Great top three.