The Lemonade Stand

Tenille Townes first cracked America as an opening act for Miranda Lambert in 2018, so maybe its not a surprise that The Lemonade Stand -- both her major-label debut and the first record shes released as an adult -- has vague echoes of Lambert within its songs, but Townes hardly replicates her spitfire appeal. Throughout The Lemonade Stand, she veers toward the sweeter side of things, a sensibility thats as apparent in her pop tunes as it is in her ballads, a sensibility that also allows her to indulge in a sparkling, amorphous modernity. Working with Jay Joyce -- a producer who regularly collaborates with Eric Church but also has helmed albums by Ashley McBryde, Brandy Clark, Brothers Osborne, and Carrie Underwood -- Townes leans in toward a country-pop that blurs the boundaries between the two by dressing its sturdy traditional craft in glistening digital flair. The occasional moments where Joyce strips away all the pop pizzazz reveal Townes as a sharp singer/songwriter. The barebones numbers are solid and Townes carries them, but The Lemonade Stand truly kicks when its at its poppiest, as on the exuberant Come as You Are and White Horse. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine