''Kids in the Street'' is the seventh studio album by

Justin Townes Earle Justin Townes Earle (January 4, 1982August 20, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. After his debut, EP ''Yuma'' (2007), he released eight full-length albums. He was recognized with an Americana Music Award for Emerging Artist ...

, released on May 26, 2017 on

New West Records New West Records is a record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Athens, Georgia. It had offices in Burbank, California, and Beverly Hills, California. The label was established in 1998 by Cameron Strang "for artists who perform real music ...

. It is the first album Earle recorded outside of his hometown of

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

; ''Kids in the Street'' was recorded with first-time collaborator and producer

Mike Mogis Michael Riley Mogis (born May 16, 1974) is an American producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist who, along with his brother A.J. Mogis, founded Presto! Recording Studios (previously known as Dead Space Recording and, earlier, Whoopass Record ...

at ARC Studios in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

, Nebraska. The album is the third and final part of a trilogy, following Earle's ''

Single Mothers A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

''(2014) and ''

Absent Fathers Absent Fathers is the sixth studio album by American musician Justin Townes Earle. It was released in January 2015 under Vagrant Records and Loose. Critical reception Mike Sauve of ''Exclaim!'' wrote that "the problem is that Earle's melancholy ...

''(2015). ''Kids in the Street'' is Earle's first release on New West Records. The first single from the album was "Champagne Corolla", featuring a

lyric video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

directed by Tom Kirk. Earle noted the upbeat tone of the album, saying in an interview that he "got married and am getting ready to become a father... this is the first record that I've written since I've been married. There's definitely an uplifting aspect to this record in a lot of ways, because I'm feeling pretty positive... this record's more about looking outward on what's happening, and writing about subjects like gentrification and inner city strife. 'Kids in the Street''also has more of a soul influence to it, and it's got a deeper connection to the blues than anything I've done before."

Critical reception

''Kids in the Street'' received fairly positive reviews from music critics. ''Rolling Stone'' gave the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, writing that the album "always feels organic, never mannered... Earle

axes Axes, plural of ''axe'' and of ''axis'', may refer to * ''Axes'' (album), a 2005 rock album by the British band Electrelane * a possibly still empty plot (graphics) See also *Axess (disambiguation) *Axxess (disambiguation) Axxess may refer to: ...

nostalgic for a childhood in the 1990s with a timelessness that could conjure the 1890s just as well". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' noted a "quiet contentment" in the music, instead of the "bleakness" found on ''Single Mothers'' and ''Absent Fathers''. ''NPR'' credited Mike Mogis's production for adding "appealingly unexpected textures" to the songs, while ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fro ...

'' said that Earle "walk the line between tradition and his own modernity". ''New Noise'' praised the album's "versatile offering of country, folk, blues, jazz and soulful rock". ''Blurt'' wrote that ''Kids in the Street'' is "just as charming and powerful as 'Single Mothers'' and ''Absent Fathers''.

Track listing

Personnel

Main band

*Justin Townes Earle – vocals, guitar *Scott Seiver – drums, percussion, claps *Paul Niehaus – electric guitar, baritone guitar, pedal steel *Max Stehr – upright bass *Ben Brodin – piano, electric piano,

Hammond B-3 The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

organ, pump organ, clavinet, vibraphone

Additional musicians

*Mike Mogis – baritone electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, 12-string acoustic guitar, hi-strung guitar, percussion,

bajo sexto Bajo sexto (Spanish: "sixth bass") is a Mexican string instrument from the guitar family with 12 strings in six double courses. A closely related instrument is the bajo quinto (Spanish: "fifth bass") which has 10 strings in five double courses. ...

, banjo, bass, claps *Dave Ozinga – drums, percussion *Andrew Janak – saxophone, clarinet *Miwi La Lupa – trumpet, vocals *Megan Siebe – cello *Corina Figueroa Escamilla – vocals

Production

*Production, recording – Mike Mogis *Assistant engineers – Adam Roberts and Jon Ochsner *Mastering – Gavin Lurssen *Package design: – Donny Phillips *Photography – Joshua Black Wilkins

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kids in the Street 2017 albums Justin Townes Earle albums New West Records albums Albums produced by Mike Mogis