Album Review – Jaime Wyatt’s “Feel Good”

Jaime Wyatt is the kickass Outlaw lady of Americana who once robbed her drug dealer and did hard time in the California penitentiary before using country music to turn her life around and tell her story. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better collection of seven country songs than the ones from her debut 2017 EP Felony Blues, and she followed it up with the critically-acclaimed Neon Cross in 2020 produced by Shooter Jennings.
Now it’s time for something a little different from Wyatt. For her third album she’s employed Adrian Quesada as producer, best known as being a member of The Black Pumas and Grupo Fantasma. As you can probably suspect, this results in somewhat of a departure for Wyatt from her more country sound in favor of a classic soul vibe for the eleven songs of her new album Feel Good.
Don’t worry though, it’s not a wholesale change. Though the genre may slide a bit one way on the American roots scale, the classic ’70s panache that has been emblematic of Wyatt’s music from the start stays the same. It’s not super twangy, but Wyatt still uses her music to throw it back to a better time in entertainment, and awakens classic coolness and nostalgia.
Greater attention to rhythm and melody, and developing her songs beyond the simple verse/chorus formula results in what is probably the richest and most overall entertaining Jaime Wyatt album yet. She relies a little less on songcraft, and a little more on setting a groove and delivering a vibe on Feel Good. Ultimately this approach suits Wyatt very well, and doesn’t constitute a complete departure from her country stuff as much as a different approach.
For example, the song “Back To The Country” is written like a country song, but Wyatt and Adrian Quesada decide to give it more of a classic soul interpretation. This happens similarly throughout the album, while a bit of a psych influence also comes in via guitar fuzz, illustrated on the extended ending of “Where The Damned Only Go.” This album doesn’t just have rhythm, it has a pulse.

It’s really hard to find fault with the end results of Feel Good. But it’s also not unfair if some country fans find this album a little bittersweet. You want performers to follow their creative muse wherever it takes them. And in the case of Jaime Wyatt and Feel Good, it takes her next door to soul-infused Americana, not down the street to sellout pop. Still, with such a dearth of women in true country—especially kickass ones like Wyatt—you wish they would stick closer to country to help keep the imbalance more at bay.
But Jaime isn’t burning any bridges here. The final two songs of the album are where you hear the country roots of Wyatt come back to the forefront. “Ain’t Enough Whiskey” with Butch Hancock is a superior Outlaw country track. It could be a mainstay in Wyatt’s live shows for years to come with the way the chorus compels you to sing along. The album concludes with “Moonlighter” about feeling lonesome and separated from the world while in Europe. The steel guitar could be turned up in the mix, but it shows off more of Wyatt’s storytelling side.
Wyatt did her time behind bars, and did her time singing sad and lonesome country songs inspired by true-to-life events. There is some more of that here as well. But now with a successful music career and a new lease on life, it’s time to look for the pleasure in music and not just sad bastard commiseration, and to feel good for a while.
7.9/10
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November 30, 2023 @ 8:52 am
Agree that this deviates a little from what we might expect, but it is still really solid. She has been in regular rotation for me the last several years
November 30, 2023 @ 9:52 am
Great review, pretty much agree on all points. This works better than Corb Lund’s 60’s soul record – although I like that record enough it never feels like Corb’s personality and the music mesh. Whereas this sounds natural and authentic. I play Neon Cross all the time and I’ve already worn this one out. Jaime Wyatt is special. Her voice is special, her story is special, I could go on. This isn’t pure country per se, but it’s great country, rhythm and blues by any standard.
November 30, 2023 @ 10:10 am
Saw her twice recently and her shows were a good mix of songs from the new album and old ones, so I’m glad she’s expanding her palette.
She also seems a lot happier, which comes across in the music too.
November 30, 2023 @ 9:29 pm
What type of band is she touring with? This album sounds BIG and I’m wondering how she presents it onstage
November 30, 2023 @ 11:07 am
As a fan of her previous work, it took me a couple listens, but this album is really growing on me. Spot on review!
November 30, 2023 @ 11:41 am
I really loved Neon Cross, it was a perfect medium for Jaime Wyatt’s style of songwriting, so I’m obviously not very excited about this. Your take suggests she’s honing some of the more musical edges of her craft, which could be excellent assuming she takes this to her next release and back to where her lyrics and melodies feel the best.
November 30, 2023 @ 4:36 pm
There are some ways that she reminds me of Tami Nielsen, an incredible singer and great songwriter who I think is US born but has made her career in New Zealand. Her music varies from fairly straightforward country on some albums to total vintage sounding soul and r&b on others, with a lot of stuff in between and a lot of mixtures of the two. Both of them are amazing singers so it’s not surprising they’re exploring a wide array of vintage music genres.
December 1, 2023 @ 5:07 am
Tami is Canadian born. Good points, though.
December 1, 2023 @ 1:46 pm
Cool. I knew it was something like that. She really needs to be better known, as does Jaime. And I say that as someone who doesn’t really like the soul sound all that much but both of them just do such a fantastic original music that it almost doesn’t matter what they touch, it’s all great.
December 1, 2023 @ 3:44 am
This is a great collection made up of country soul. By the way, it’s not Butch Hancock on ‘Ain’t Enough Whiskey’, but Butch Walker.
December 1, 2023 @ 7:23 am
I’m not going to try and sugarcoat this album with excuses like, at least it’s not pop country. What is it with top independent country women suddenly switching up after establishing themselves with great country albums? Is there some pressure from peers or producers to switch up to Americana retro rock and pop? What happened to the artist who laid down great tracks like Wasco, Neon Cross, and Hurt So Bad? So disappointing.
And honestly, a switch to pop country would at least make sense if the goal was to achieve more financial success. Does Jamie think that generic soul/pop will be more successful than releasing another country album? I doubt it, because there is nothing really special here. World Worth Keeping sounds so much like Fortunate Sun that I kept sing “It Ain’t Me” during the song. The rest of the album is run of the mill with nothing standing out.
I’m sorry Jamie if you’re reading this. I’m a big fan of your previous work, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse to say that switching from what you do great (Country Music), makes this a good album simply because it’s labeled Americana instead of pop. Hope this is a one album sidetrack, not a permanent switch.
December 4, 2023 @ 9:32 am
Maybe she’s more worried about doing what she wants to do, rather than financial success. While you may not like it, at the end of the day she’s the artist and gets to put out what she wants. Your comment comes off as someone screaming out a request over and over at a show. Shut the fuck up and take what they are blessing you, or don’t, that’s cool too
December 4, 2023 @ 9:52 am
First off, you’re right, she is free to record whatever she wants. Secondly, I won’t be shutting the fuck up internet tough guy. Just as she is free to release what she wants, I am free to express my opinions on the output. If you can’t handle criticism, maybe stay out of the comments buddy.
December 2, 2023 @ 4:04 am
…it still keeps growing on me with every listen. that makes it at least a good album, in my book.. repeating the terrific “neon cross” one way or another would probably have been somewhat boringly wonderful. by not doing so, she confirms her artistic potential. with “moonlighter” ms. wyatt closes this more eclectic record with a welcome country twist and treat. nice one.
December 2, 2023 @ 4:24 am
i love country music and i love classic soul music but i got to get used to this new Jaime sound.
December 5, 2023 @ 12:23 pm
Always gratifying to find a community of folks with strong opinions about a relatively unknown artist. I basically agree with everyone else — Felony Blues was a super exciting and promising debut, and I would classify Neon Cross as a borderline modern country masterpiece.
So — the left turn here was initially a relatively big letdown. I will just say, I saw her perform these tracks live a few weeks ago and the live format really lets the songs shine. I was able to let these tunes grow on me over time — and “Love is a Place” was an immediate highlight — but I definitely do miss the heavier slide guitar and more traditional country elements of her past records.
June 19, 2024 @ 8:00 pm
Wyatt can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned. I LOVE every single thing she’s done. For me, she’s a generational talent.
I saw her live last night and my stratospheric expectations were vastly exceeded. I’m still shaking my head in amazement and gratitude. (Cody Christian did a fantastic opening set.)