Tigers Blood
When artists experience the kind of career-defining breakthrough that Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield enjoyed with 2020’s *Saint Cloud*, they’re typically faced with a difficult choice: lean further into the sound that landed you there, or risk disappointing your newfound audience by setting off into new territory. On *Tigers Blood*, the Kansas City-based singer-songwriter chooses the former, with a set of country-indebted indie rock that reaches the same, often dizzying heights as its predecessor. But that doesn’t mean its songs came from the same emotional source. “When I made *Saint Cloud*, I\'d just gotten sober and I was just this raw nerve—I was burgeoning with anxiety,” she tells Apple Music. “And on this record, it sounds so boring, but I really feel like I was searching for normal. I think I\'ve really settled into my thirties.” Working again with longtime producer Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Snail Mail, Hurray for the Riff Raff), Crutchfield enlisted the help of rising guitar hero MJ Lenderman, with whom she duets on the quietly romantic lead single (and future classic) “Right Back to It.” Originally written for Wynonna Judd—a recent collaborator—“365” finds Crutchfield falling into a song of forgiveness, her voice suspended in air, arching over the soft, heart-like thump of an acoustic guitar. Just as simple but no less moving: the Southern rock of “Ice Cold,” in which Crutchfield seeks equilibrium and Lenderman transcendence, via solo. In the absence of inner tumult, Crutchfield says she had to learn that the songs will still come. “I really do feel like I\'ve reached this point where I have a comfort knowing that they will show up,” she says. “When it\'s time, they\'ll show up and they\'ll show up fast. And if they\'re not showing up, then it\'s just not time yet.”
Carrying forth the Southern sound of Saint Cloud, Katie Crutchfield does it again. Her dazzling, piercing songwriting is perfectly in tune with the band behind her.
On her sixth album, Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield keeps things intimate, letting her songwriting and performances soar
While Saint Cloud arguably represents the apex of Waxahatchee’s hook-savviness, Tigers Blood features flawlessly sculpted melodies as well as vocals that are more notably complex and lyrics that more thoroughly plumb the human condition.
On her sixth album as Waxahatchee, Katie Crutchfield creates hard-won and time-worn brilliance across 12 career-best tracks.
Shakira swaps revenge for something more nuanced, while Waxahatchee and Adrianne Lenker double down on their previous albums’ brilliance, and Elbow return to the spare melodies and dark moods of their early work
Katie Crutchfield follows up the masterful Saint Cloud with another album of gorgeously expressive Americana.
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Sticking with producer Brad Cook from Waxahatchee’s revelatory Saint Cloud, Katie Crutchfield continues her exploration of alt-country trails on Tigers Blood.
Katie Crutchfield has a habit of touching parts of your heart other songwriters can’t quite reach. Waxahatchee’s 2020 breakout ‘Saint Cloud’ was
Katie Crutchfield’s latest album swaps the strung-out drama of its acclaimed predecessor for precision and broad relatability
The beautiful, serene instrumentation on ‘Tigers Blood’ dovetails with Waxahatchee’s gutting truth-telling.
Waxahatchee's new album "Tigers Blood" is out on March 22nd, 2024. Read the review by Ethan Rebalkin for Northern Transmissions.
Katie Crutchfield’s sixth album refines the breezy country of her 2020 breakthrough Saint Cloud and finds her as compelled by the complexities of life as its eases
Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood review: A solid (if slightly unremarkable) follow-up to Waxahatchee's crowning achievement.
Beth Ditto has retained all her vocal power, with some added sweetness, while Waxahatchee reveals a remarkable young country talent
Soaked in Southern spirit, the Alabama-born songwriter continues her country era. New music review by Cheri Amour