Margo Price released her new album Strays earlier this year, and now she revealed that it’s actually part one of a planned double album, with Strays II arriving on October 13 via Loma Vista (pre-order). Strays II was recorded with producer Jonathan Wilson during the same sessions as Strays, and it’s broken up into three acts. All three songs from the first act–“Strays,” “Closer I Get” (ft. Ny Oh), and “Malibu” (ft. Buck Meek and Jonathan Wilson)–are out now. Margo says:
The title track is the story of how my husband Jeremy [Ivey] and I met and fell in love in Nashville two decades ago. I wrote most of the words and Jeremy wrote the chords and melody. It also reflects how we have always tried to stay true to who we are as people: ‘Love and pain it comes in waves but it was quite enough in those early days, we were wild as wolves my darlin’, we were strays.
“Closer I Get” (co-written with Jeremy Ivey) was originally meant to open this double album with the line, “Being alive costs a lot of money but so does dying.” I’ve always thought it was unfair that the moment we are born, we immediately start racking up debt just for existing. This song was conjured from the ashes of our initial psychedelic trip – sometimes your perception and depth of field changes depending on where you’re at in life.
“Malibu” was written with Mike Campbell in his Malibu home after Jeremy and I had driven through the canyon fleeing a forest fire to get my guitar from our Airbnb. I had the start of the song and brought it to him looking to finish it out. I wanted to write something with a country funk/Bobbie Gentry feel, a good long rambling story about the minutiae of the day, like “Ode to Billy Joe.” Mike added the long “California” yodel and the bridge and was exactly what the song needed. My favorite line is “love and grief are a package deal, the more you have, the more you feel.”
Listen to all three new songs below.
Margo also has upcoming tour dates, including NJ’s XPoNential Music Festival, Farm Aid, a run opening for Chris Stapleton (that hits the NYC-area on October 7 at UBS Arena with Nikki Lane), and more. All dates are listed below.
Tracklist
Act I: Topanga Canyon
Strays
Closer I Get (feat. Ny Oh)
Malibu (feat. Jonathan Wilson, Buck Meek)
Act II: Mind Travel
Black Wolf Blues
Mind Travel
Unoriginal Sin (feat. Mike Campbell)
Act III: Burn Whatever’s Left
Homesick (feat. Jonathan Wilson)
Where Did We Go Wrong
Burn Whatever’s Left
Margo Price — 2023 Tour Dates
8/24 – London, UK – Rough Trade East
8/25 – London, UK – Lafayette
8/26 – Leicestershire, UK – The Long Road
9/8 – Raleigh, NC – Hopscotch Music Festival
9/9 – Bristol, TN – Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
9/10 – Lexington, KY – The Burl County Fair
9/11 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall #
9/12 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom #
9/14 – Bloomington, IN – The Castle Theatre #
9/15 – Madison, WI – Live On King Street #
9/16 – Bayfield, WI – Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua #
9/17 – Des Moines, IA – Wooly’s #
9/22 – Camden, NJ – XPoNential Music Festival
9/23 – Noblesville, IN – Farm Aid
9/24 – Franklin, TN – Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival
9/28 – Harrisburg, PA – Harrisburg University (XL Live)^
9/29 – Northampton, MA – Academy of Music^
9/30 – North Truro, MA – Payomet Performing Arts Center^
10/1 – Bridgeport, CT – Sound on Sound
10/3 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom^
10/5 – Charlottesville, VA – John Paul Jones Arena*
10/6 – University Park, PA – Bryce Jordan Center*
10/7 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena*
10/27 – Huntsville, AL – Orion Amphitheater!
11/3 – Scottsdale, AZ – Dreamy Draw
*supporting Chris Stapleton
#w/ S.G. Goodman
^w/ Brit Taylor
!supporting Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit