what else can she do

Country music has a rich history of narrative songs with rich, complex characters, and up-and-comer Kaitlin Butts takes a cue from that lineage on *what else can she do*. The Tulsa-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter spins tales of women finding their way out of tough situations into a thoughtful, immersive album that feels loosely conceptual and quietly radical. “it won’t always be this way” is an anthem for anyone who can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, with one of Butts’ finest vocal performances. On the noir-country ballad “blood,” Butts sings of the darker aspects of familial relationships, inspired by her parents’ divorce. And the title track, with its woozy pedal steel and gently meandering beat, follows a woman whose dashed dreams lead her to a dead-end job, with a lyric reminiscent of early Kacey Musgraves.