23 NOVEMBER | E STREET

Klassisk country för den moderna världen. Kanadensiska Mariel Buckley och hennes band balanserar på en slak lina mellan country, pop och americana.

Doubling down on grit and authenticity, Mariel Buckley has planted her flag firmly as a songwriter who's in it for the long haul. The glow of mainstream music holds no appeal for this neo-noir highway star, and she makes no apologies for her stark candour and delivery. As one of Canada's busiest touring acts, she continues to charm new listeners with her sharp perspective and tender melodies and shows no signs of slowing in the back half of 2021.

After the release of her critically acclaimed sophomore album, Driving In The Dark (2018), Buckley saw a notable shift in momentum, and its steady incline has continued even throughout the bizarre pandemic. With no shortage of official showcase slots and past tours as support for Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, The Deep Dark Woods and k.d. Lang, she finds her listenership expansive and dedicated while her intrigue grows across international borders in anticipation of her follow-up album.

While 2020 saw the cancellation of festival slots and support tours for William Prince, The Bros. Landreth and Del Barber - Buckley quickly settled in for a heavy bout of songwriting to prepare for her next recording. To date she has completed a catalogue of twenty songs to whittle down with renowned Montreal producer/engineer Marcus Paquin (The National, Sarah Harmer, The Barr Brothers, Tim Baker)

This album looks to turn country fans on their heels and scoop up the dedicated indie subculture only a synthesizer away. By respecting the tradition of storytelling through song and the intimacy therein, Buckley and Paquin are poised to deliver on something entirely fresh and experimental, both pushing Buckley's personal artistic boundaries and genre confines simultaneously.

With no allegiance to her classic country roots and indifferent to the pop-country craze, Mariel Buckley finds herself continuing to make waves from the fringes and exactly where she belongs - making music for the outsiders, dreamers and underdogs.

If you're longing for the pensive tearjerkers of classic country music in the modern world, look no further than singer-songwriter Mariel Buckley. With the soul of Emmylou and the keen eye of Springsteen, Buckley has been busy making a name for herself.

Av Bobbie Jean Sawyer, Wide Open Country
With her sun-washed, melodic Americana music, Calgary's Mariel Buckley is poised to make her mark. There's an inherent poignancy in the way she carries her smoky vocals across nostalgic arrangements and thought-provoking lyricism that makes her next album much anticipated.

Av Jonathan Frahm, PopMatters