Album Review – Lola Kirke’s “Trailblazer”

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#570.5 (Indie rock-inspired Americana) and #510.1 (Classic country) on the Country DDS.


A quick perusal through the resume of Lola Kirke would come up a little short for bullet points qualifying her as a country music singer. Instead you’ll see a long list of acting credits in various films and some TV shows. Having been born in London and raised in Manhattan’s West Village since she was five years old with a degree from Bard College, it’s not exactly the rough and tumble history that will earn you cred with the shit kickers out in the honky tonks.

But what is the ultimate test of authenticity for a country music artist? It’s not who you are or where you’re from, and how that aligns with conventional and established country music bonafides. It’s about how authentic you are to yourself, and how honest and vulnerable you’re willing to be. This is where Lola Kirke scores high on the scale.

Her new album Trailblazer isn’t entirely country, but it comes with some really choice and well-written country songs. Perhaps if she tried to make a straight traditional country record, it would come across as cosplay. But instead she made a Lola Kirke record, inspired in part by what is obviously a sincere and studious love for country music.

The title of her last EP called Country Curious might characterize the Lola Kirke sound best. The EP is where she covered “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone” with Kaitlin Butts, and also collaborated with Rosanne Cash. Now ready to explore her country noir impulses in full force, she intermixes country songs with more indie rock treatments in an album that is eclectic and explorative, and always forthright and engaging in the writing—even if sometimes confused and a little muddy.

There is little that isn’t country about the song “241s,” or her waltz-timed co-write with Liz Rose and her daughter Caitlin Rose called “Hungover Thinkin'” about a foggy next-day recollection. “Mississippi, My Sister, Elvis & Me” is another country heater, complete with tasty steel guitar. Even some of the songs that qualify more as hybrids of country and indie rock come with ample country steel, keeping you engaged when your country sensibilities might otherwise tune you out.



The nostalgic and nicotine-stained “Marlboro Lights and Madonna” about Lola’s mother (and many other people’s) is a prime example of this country/indie hybrid, as is “Easy On You” about giving a soft landing to a drug-addled lover. But even when the album turns full indie rock in tracks like “Raised By Wolves” and “2 Damn Sexy,” it’s hard to turn away. Kirke has already sold you on the merits of her musical cocktail, and which way her world might turn next keeps you intrigued.

At the same time, some of these songs are screaming for a more country sound. Producer Daniel Tashian is pretty notorious for taking country women and making them more indie. Using distressed tones and muddy mixes doesn’t really convey a vintage feel or unresolved mood. It’s just kind of a distraction.

“Yeah, but Daniel Tashian produced those recent Kacey Musgraves records!” But that’s part of the point. Lucky for Musgraves, some of her great songs shined through the filmy and sometimes aimless approach. And so do Lola’s. But it’s less than ideal. At times the production just tries to be too cute and innovative as opposed to letting the song itself pick the sonic direction.

Those concerns aside though, this is definitely one of those album selections that you can see getting stuck in people’s listening rotation for months on end, similar to Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood from 2024, though with even more country inflections. Trailblazer also presents a more ideal and achievable state for modern country pop as opposed to whatever mess is happening on radio.

A country fan might feel inclined to tell Lola Kirke to be more country. But as Lola Kirke sings in the opening song and title track, “They’ll try to change you, try to make you be like them, see like them. Babe, I wouldn’t blame you, it’s lonely when you don’t fit in.” Besides, she’s not a girl from the deep South who grew up on a ranch. She’s Lola Kirke, unafraid to explore her love for country, but never wanting to be anything more than herself.

7.8/10

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