Tigers Blood finds
Waxahatchee abandoning the remaining indie accents that gave
Saint Cloud, her 2020 album, such an exquisite out-of-phase quality. No longer lingering upon the delicate qualities of her music,
Katie Crutchfield favors an immediacy that's not necessarily visceral. Much of
Tigers Blood proceeds at an unhurried pace -- indeed, its opening track, "3 Sisters," appears to creep over the horizon, slowly coalescing around
Crutchfield's clarion voice -- but velocity isn't the only way music can feel direct. There's something bracing about the warmth she creates on
Tigers Blood, particularly in how it emanates as much from the performances as it does the songs. Setting up shop at the hip West Texas studio Sonic Ranch,
Crutchfield and producer
Brad Cook recruited a number of prominent indie musicians, anchoring the collective with drummer
Spencer Tweedy and finding space for
MJ Lenderman and
Megafaun's
Phil Cook. The result is a
Waxahatchee record that feels like the work of a band; it's possible to hear the group breathe and exhale alongside
Crutchfield, accentuating the heart and humor in the work. Part of the reason
Tigers Blood feels so warm and open is how
Lenderman lends harmonies in addition to lead guitar, coming to the forefront to duet on "Right Back to It." His tangible presence helps illustrate how
Waxahatchee now seems to subscribe to the same ideals as Americana, but
Crutchfield's writing is too elliptical and eccentric to suffer from pretensions of authenticity. Instead,
Tigers Blood is the rarest of things: an album that feels familiar upon its surface and idiosyncratic in its details. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
![The Lonesome Crowded West [Bonus Track]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0767981144627_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "The Lonesome Crowded West [Bonus Track]")
