Teddy Thompson - My Love of Country (2023) [Hi-Res]

“Country music has been inescapable for me, a recurring theme,” says Teddy Thompson. “At the age of 10 or 11, that's the first thing I heard where my ears pricked up and I'm like, 'Oh, this is music? I like this.'” The simplicity and emotional intensity of classic country – à la Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and George Jones - has been a big part of Thompson's own sound as an artist, which the New York Times called “beautifully finessed” and NPR hailed as “the musical equivalent of an arrow to the heart.” Back in 2007, he explored his roots with Up Front and Down Low, an album of Nashville golden era favorites. And now he's picked up the thread again. Thompson says, “The pandemic hit and all bets were off, and the question came up, 'What can we do musically just for fun? I said, 'Let's do some country songs.'” Where the earlier record was made with what he calls “an off-the-cuff approach,” his latest release, My Love Of Country goes much deeper.