''Bronco'' is the second studio album by South African

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Orville Peck Orville Peck is a South African country musician based in Canada. He wears a fringed mask and has never shown his face publicly. He released his debut album ''Pony'' in 2019, followed by the EP '' Show Pony'' the next year. His second studio a ...

, released on April 8, 2022 by

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. It was nominated for Country Album of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2023 The Juno Awards of 2023 was a music awards ceremony that was held on March 13, 2023 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.2022 Polaris Music Prize."Here are all the 2023 Juno nominees"

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

, January 31, 2023.

Background and promotion

In 2019, Orville Peck released his debut studio album ''

Pony A pony is a type of small horse ('' Equus ferus caballus''). Depending on the context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. Compared ...

'' to critical acclaim. He followed it up with the EP '' Show Pony'' (2020), intended as a bridge between his first and second albums. On February 7, 2022 Peck dropped a trailer for the album on his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel announcing the release dates for the album and its first chapter. In lieu of singles, Peck opted to release the albums in three "chapters", a choice that earned comparison to

Beach House Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals). Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 to ...

's promotional campaign for ''

Once Twice Melody ''Once Twice Melody'' is the eighth studio album by the American dream pop duo Beach House, released on February 18, 2022. It is a double album of 18 songs, presented in four chapters. Release The first chapter was released on November 10, 2021 ...

''. The first chapter was released on February 11, 2022 and contained the songs "Daytona Sand", "Outta Time", "C'mon Baby Cry", and "Any Turn". "C'Mon Baby Cry" was accompanied by a video featuring cameos from comedian

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...

and drag queen

Kornbread Jeté Kornbread Jeté, also known as Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté or simply Kornbread, is the stage name of Demoria Elise Williams (born January 14, 1992), an American drag queen. She is known for competing on season 14 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' in 2022 ...

. A video for "Daytona Sand" was released on March 5, 2022. A second chapter was released March 11, 2022, containing the songs "The Curse of the Blackened Eye", "Kalahari Down", "Trample Out the Days", and "Hexie Mountains". "The Curse of the Blackened Eye" was accompanied by a music video featuring '' The Walking Dead'' actor

Norman Reedus Norman Mark Reedus (born January 6, 1969) is an American actor best known for starring as Daryl Dixon in the AMC (TV channel), AMC horror drama series ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Walking Dead'' (2010–2022). He also starred as Murphy Mac ...

. The music video for "Hexie Mountains" was released on March 24, 2022 featuring Peck's close friend

Riley Keough Danielle Riley Keough ( ; born May 29, 1989) is an American actress, notable for being the daughter of musicians Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough, and granddaughter of actress Priscilla Presley and singer Elvis Presley, and starting a succes ...

. Peck will promote the album with the ''Bronco Tour'' across North America and Oceania throughout 2022.

Composition

''Bronco'' is a

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

, outlaw country, and

alt-country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style f ...

album with elements of

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

, bluegrass,

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

, and

countrypolitan The Nashville Sound originated during the mid-1950s as a subgenre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of the rough honky tonk music, which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, with "smooth strings and choruses", "sophist ...

. When discussing the sound of the album, Peck noted the influence of 60s and 70s

, specifically mentioning bands

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of Am ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

and

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...

and South African folk artists

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, jazz, a ...

and

Hugh Masekela Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and for ...

alongside the "flower child" country influences of

Gram Parsons Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973) who was known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist who recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, ...

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...

and

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, ''Bronco'' received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 81, based on nine reviews, indicating "universal acclaim." Mark Deming of ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' commended Peck's lyricism, saying "He has no trouble writing songs that have the dramatic sweep his

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

meets

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

voice demands, and as a lyricist, he's an effective storyteller who doesn't shy away from a dollop of melodrama while still making his characters ring true. The artfully woven queer subtext of Pony is present and accounted for, while the universality of his lonely cowboy's mingled desires for independence and companionship will make this speak to all sorts of listeners."''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' writer Harry West praised Peck's musical growth, saying that "all 15 tracks feel sonically muscular and more mature than those of its predecessor" and called it "wholly modern and proudly queer". Elly Watson of ''

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

'' opined that ''Bronco'', "flits between theatricality and poignancy, almost every song sounding like it could score a Western’s pivotal moment with ease." ''

Gigwise ''Gigwise'' is a British online music news site that features music news, photos, album reviews, music festivals, concert tickets and video content. Founded in June 2001, the site is based in London, England. History Gigwise was launched in 2001 ...

'' contributor Miles Cooke wrote that "With this bold, brash and liberated second album full of love and loss, cowboy romanticism, California sorrow and candid homosexuality, the enigmatic desperado continues his rise with a greater confidence and warmth than before. Though a touch sappy in places and musically underwhelming in others, Bronco is overall another triumph for Orville Peck." ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

''s Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the album's production but criticized Peck's vocals, saying "The emphasis on the rhinestone icon inevitably highlights Bronco’s one failing: The album would be better if Peck could actually sing. Peck may be a master vocalizer capable of wringing maximum ardor out of a song, but he alternates between a portentous mumble and a throaty bellow, the kind of histrionics that were once the speciality of Elvis impersonators." By contrast, ''Sputnikmusic'' contributor Matthias praised his voice, opining "Primarily a stunningly low baritone with a penchant for a pretty falsetto, Peck is now making full use of his range, with belting, riffs, and that perfect falsetto appearing in song after song, with fifteen songs of fifty minutes of that voice arguably being not enough." ''

Dork Dork is a pejorative term for a person (compare with " dweeb" and "fool"). Dork may also refer to: People * Dork Sahagian, Armenian-American climate scientist Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Dork'' (EP), an album by AFI * ''Dork'' (magaz ...

'' contributor Steven Loftin said that Peck is "able to convey with the simplest touch a wealth of feeling as if he's reaching deep inside your heart and it's you he's bringing to life, but as easily as he does this, he leaves you in the cold of night wanting more." The album received a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nomination for Country Album of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2023 The Juno Awards of 2023 was a music awards ceremony that was held on March 13, 2023 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

– vocals, electric guitar (tracks 1, 7, 8), acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 3–4, 6, 9–10, 13–15), percussion (tracks 1–2, 5, 8, 13, 15), mandolin (track 2), piano (track 2), celesta (track 5), harmonica (track 7), keyboards (track 11–12) * Kris Bowering – drums (tracks 1–3, 6–10, 12, 13, 15), percussion (tracks 6–9, 11, 13) *Emmanuel Echem – trumpet (track 6) *Laura Epling – violin (tracks 7, 12) * Duncan Jay Hennings – electric guitar (tracks 1–13, 15), keyboards (tracks 2–3), organ (tracks 7, 10, 15), piano (15) * Tobias Jesso Jr. – acoustic guitar (track 5) *

Jay Joyce John Joseph "Jay" Joyce is an American record producer, songwriter and session musician. In the 1990s, Joyce, with Chris Feinstein and Brad Pemberton, recorded and toured as Iodine and began working as a record producer, working with artists suc ...

– keyboards (tracks 1–8, 10, 13), electric guitar (tracks 2, 5, 11),

omnichord The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation. It typically features a touch plate known as "Sonic Strings", preset rhythms, auto-bass line functionality, and buttons for ma ...

(track 2), percussion (track 3), programming (track 5) *Austin Hoke – cello (tracks 7, 12) *Jordan Lehning – string arrangement (tracks 7, 12) *Nicole Neely – viola (tracks 7, 12) * Kyle Connolly – bass (tracks 1–12, 15) *

Noam Pikelny Noam Pikelny (born February 27, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American banjoist. He is a member of the group Punch Brothers and was previously in Leftover Salmon as well as the John Cowan Band. Pikelny is a nine-time Grammy Award nominee, win ...

– banjo (tracks 6, 11) * Bria Salmena – background vocals (tracks 1–10, 12), electric guitar (tracks 1–4, 6, 8–10, 13, 15), acoustic guitar (tracks 7, 9), keyboards (track 11), featured vocals (track 15) *Luke Schneider – steel guitar (tracks 2–3, 5, 7, 8, 14, 15) * Chris Stracey – organ (track 5) *Kristin Weber – violin (tracks 7, 12)

Technical

*Jason Hall – mixing engineer, recording engineer (tracks 1–5, 7–9, 11–15) *Jaxon Hargrove – assistant engineer *

– mixing engineer *Jimmy Mansfield – assistant engineer *Andrew Mendelson – mastering engineer (tracks 1–13, 15), assistant engineer (track 7) *Pete Min – recording engineer (track 5) *Chris Stracey – recording engineer (track 5)

Charts

References

{{reflist 2022 albums Albums produced by Jay Joyce Columbia Records albums Orville Peck albums Outlaw country albums Sub Pop albums