Welcome back to Record of the Week. The rhythm is back after a much-needed holiday. This week, the Randomizer gives us a slice of country/americana goodness in the form of Ashley Ray's 2020 debut album, Pauline. This is the record that's on my turntable this morning.
This album was a lockdown find, it came out at the end of the summer in 2020. The album starts off with a voice message from her mother who is talking about Ashley's grandma, Paulina, and the song goes on to detail how Ashley inherited a lot of her grandmother's characteristics. Pretty cool way to start off your first album, I think. Pauline and a couple other slower songs are my faves from this album. Lawrence KS is a gorgeous ode to her hometown. The other song I really love is Just a House, a little something about moving on. Simply beautiful. There's some fun stuff. Dirty Work. Slurry. It's a solid album but, in my assessment, the slower songs really stand out. And her voice, oh man I love her voice. It sounds like it could be her grandmother's voice that's been soaked in whisky after smoking a few too many cigarettes.
I don't know too much about her. Her website is expired but she seems to be active on Instagram. I know she put out a follow-up album in 2023, Animal, there's a review of it here. That album didn't really click with me the way Pauline did. It hasn't even been added to her Discogs page which is kinda weird. I guess she's that obscure. In any case, Pauline is a solid country/americana album that's worth a listen.