5 Must-Hear New Country Songs: George Strait, Luke Combs, Don ...

This week’s batch of new country tunes includes George Strait offering a tender, focused aim at life’s important moments, while Luke Combs brings songs from her familial-focused album Fathers & Sons.

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Meanwhile, Carter Faith teams with Alison Krauss for a heartbreak anthem, while Don Louis offers a dance-worthy earworm, and Jenna Paulette delves into her country roots.

George Strait, “The Little Things”

Strait’s warm, conversational, and compelling voice expertly renders an introspective musing at the myriad moments — sunsets, a gentle rain, spending time with loved ones, or “an old Merle Haggard song” — that infuse life with joy. Heightened by tender string work, this ballad is included on Strait’s upcoming album, Cowboys & Dreamers, set for Sept. 6. Strait has always had an ear for a great song, and his latest, which he wrote with Bubba Strait and Monty Criswell, proves The King never misses.

Luke Combs, “Remember Him That Way”

This two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner celebrated Father’s Day by dropping the dozen-song ode to the lifelong arc of familial bonds between dads and their sons with the album Fathers & Sons.

In one song from the album, “Remember Him That Way,” he vividly recalls all the ways he thought of his father as strong and dependable throughout his life and muses as his father grows older and more frail, “That ‘S’ on his chest is starting to fade/ But I’ll always remember him that way.” Combs wrote the song with Jonathan Singleton, Erik Dylan and Jessi Alexander.

Combs has notched 17 Billboard Country Airplay No. 1s, with a slate of songs ranging from heartbreak anthems to beer-soaked barn burners. But with his new album, he recalibrates the depths of his music, bringing fans deeper into his current perspective as a father to two young boys, while also encapsulating universal themes of the generational relationships between parents and their children.

Don Louis, “Liquor Talkin'”

Given the success of a line of massive hits songs stacking up this summer that fuse pop and hip-hop rhythms with country twang and rural, barroom-inspired lyrics, Don Louis’ latest feels like a natural candidate for the next global country-tinged smash.

“Not a doctor, I’m not a lawyer/ Feels like right now I can do anything,” sings Louis, who possesses an attention-commanding, gravelly drawl. Against a thumping, hip-hop groove tailor-made for dancing, “Liquor Talkin'” captures the confidence-heightening results stemming from a night of imbibing. Louis wrote the song with Cale Dodds and Thomas Kipp Williams, while the song is the title track to his upcoming album, out Aug. 23 via EMPIRE / Money Myers Entertainment LLC.

Jenna Paulette, “Wild Is Her Favorite Color”

Paulette sketches a musical portrait of an independent-minded woman who knows what she loves, from her favorite country song (The Chicks’ “Ready to Run”) and her favorite drink (tequila sunrise) to her favorite, passionate hue–and no, it’s not fire-engine red, but rather, as Paulette puts it, “A little deeper shade of dangerous.” Paulette’s lilting voice adds a perfect blend of spice and sugar, adding a mysterious tint to this bright, breezy production. “Wild Is Her Favorite Color” is from her upcoming album Horseback, out Sept. 6.

Carter Faith and Alison Krauss, “Blue Bird”

Carter Faith, who recently inked a label deal with UMG Nashville, teams with one of the most luminous voices in country and bluegrass, Alison Krauss, for the new song “Blue Bird.” Faith more than holds her own with an ethereal soprano that pairs exquisitely with Krauss’ backing vocals. This dazzling meditation on the crackling ache of youthful heartbreak finds Faith asking, “Is he why you’re blue? Is he why you sing like you do?” Faith wrote the song with Tofer Brown and Lauren Hungate.