Erin Rae ★★★★ Lighten Up THIRTY TIGERS. CD/DL/LP

Positive indie country vibes from a fresh Nashville voice.

It’s been three years since Nashvillebased Erin Rae’s very modern indie country debut Putting On Airs. Lighten Up continues her journey in the vein of Kacy & Clayton or Marlon Williams, with a hint of namesake-adjacent Lana Del Rey’s gauzy pop thrown in for good measure. Drafting in friend Kevin Morby for the Nancy & Lee-style duet Can’t See Stars (albeit with not nearly enough ‘Lee’), Meg Duffy on occasional guitar and Andrew Combs for a rare co-write on highlight Lighten Up And Try, Rae puts a positive spin on just about everything that people have been bitching about for the past two years, finding joy in her enforced slowing down and taking stock. As refreshing as Putting On Airs was, Lighten Up takes its sometimes melancholy frown, turns it upside down and delivers an infectious beam of musical sunshine.