For his fans, Kurt Wagner is a musical genius. Since 1990, he has been the brains (and sometimes even the head, arms and legs) behind Lambchop, the band which has pioneered the way for indie country music and even a little jazz. Each word that is softly spoken by the Nashville songwriter in his crooner voice has made their dozen albums even more dreamlike. In 2016, Lambchop dared to use electronics on the album FLOTUS (For Love Often Turns Us Still) and even with their electro sounds and voices modified through Vocoder and Auto-Tune their music still sounded as brilliant as ever. Only the style had changed so much that Wagner surely must have spent his summer not only listening to 22, A Million by Bon Iver but to artists like Future and Drake as well. Three years later he goes even further with This (is what I wanted to tell you). In his early days Kurt Wagner was a pioneer and set certain standards for what was then called alternative country, but today he is helping to evolve the genre by injecting it with sophisticated urban sounds. Although he is now 60-years old, this is not Wagner’s attempt to stay forever youthful but rather an attempt at a new style, and there’s no harm in that. He concocted this electro country music with the help of Matthew McCaughan (from Bon Iver and Hiss Golden Messenger) who produced and co-wrote this incredible album with him. Amazing. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz