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Waxahatchee Unveils an Americana Classic With the Masterful ‘Tigers Blood’: Album Review
Waxahatchee, aided by Wednesday guitarist/vocalist MJ Lenderman, have released a Southern-tinged Americana classic with 'Tigers Blood.'
“Tigers Blood,” recorded with longtime producer Brad Cook, finds Crutchfield toying with some fresh components, such as the understated but persistent presence of MJ Lenderman (who also plays with Wednesday), another newly minted indie rock titan who provides guitar work and backing vocals throughout, most prominently on the gorgeous “Right Back to It.” But minor deviations aside, “Tigers Blood” functions as a seamless extension and advancement of the aesthetic Crutchfield perfected on “Saint Cloud”, her Americana masterpiece that stands as one of the few artifacts worth revisiting from March 2020. Both on that album and this one, Crutchfield’s seems lighter and more composed, but she’s hardly relentlessly sunny — “My life’s been mapped out to a T but I’m always a little lost,” she sings on “Lone Star Lake,” a song that imagines a serene getaway for its protagonists before unpacking their respective shortcomings. The verses chronicle a couple’s low points (“If I swerve in and out of my lane, burning up an old flame, turn a jealous eye”) but only as outliers in a relationship with proven longevity: “I’ve been yours for so long, we come right back to it.” That dynamic underlies much of “Tigers Blood”: Crutchfield isn’t brushing off life’s most daunting challenges, she’s just figured out how to keep her head clear as she manages them.
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