Margo Price Strays II and Strays (Live At Grimey’s)

One of my favorite albums of 2023 was Margo Price’s Strays (released in January). I was delighted in October of 2023 when she released a sequel, Strays II. The sequel has the same vibe as Strays and comes from the same Jonathan Wilson-produced sessions. I am a huge fan of Wilson (both as a performer and as a producer). Most songs from both albums were written by Margo and her husband, Jeremy Ivy. Strays II has the same psychedelic late 70s classic rock feel as its predecessor. Although it is retro, it sounds fresh.

Strays II was marketed as an expanded re-release of Strays. It was promoted with three “acts” of songs. “Act I: Topanga Canyon” was released on August 22, 2023. “Act II: Mind Travel” was released on September 14, 2023. The complete Strays II and “Act III: Burn Whatever’s’ Left” was released on October 13, 2023. The vinyl edition of Strays II was released in January of 2024. Despite how it was marketed and promoted, Strays II is not bonus material or leftovers. Everything on II is as good as I – I slightly prefer II.

My elevator pitch for Margo Price is that she is a female Tom Petty, and both Stays albums have Mike Campbell as a guest musician to legitimize the Petty comparison. Campbell was Tom Petty’s guitarist and co-writer. He was part of Mudcrutch (a Petty side project), the most recent touring version of Fleetwood Mac, his current band, The Dirty Knobs, and he is a session ace extraordinaire.

The album opens with the titular song, per Price:

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.”

Pitchfork

“Closer I Get” feature Ny Oh. Ny is a New Zealand folk singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She is the lead singer of the band Neon Gru and has toured with Harry Styles as a multi-instrumentalist. She is the perfect backup vocalist for Margo. Per Margo, the song 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.

Pitchfork

“Malibu” is my favorite song from the whole project. This song has a solid Petty vibe. In addition to Campbell, the song also features Jonathan Wilson and Buck Meek (Big Thief). Per Margo:

“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 Billie 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.

Pitchfork

“Black Wolf Blues” – per Margo (from Holler)

“I love how these songs came together. ‘Black Wolf Blues’ in particular, Jeremy started writing the words from my exact point of view – he found myself reflecting on my ancestors, my grandparents (Paul & Mary Price) and their love and how it grew despite the drought and the loss of their farm. I wrote the chords and the melody and helped finish the verses and chorus. Even though it has a sweetness and a nostalgic way about it, there is a looming darkness – the wolf who’s been watching and weaving his way like a stray throughout the entire album. Look for him. It’s like an invisible plague hanging in the air, it’s the man in the suit and tie who’s lying to you through his straight, white teeth. He hides in shadows”.

“Mind Travel” is a psychedelic – per Margo (from Holler)

“…one of the more lyrically strange songs I’ve written. Jeremy and I wrote it in South Carolina. It’s pretty much beat poetry on drugs with a back beat – it was influenced by having an out of body experience on psilocybin. We both had some pretty incredible breakthroughs about accepting death and just reckoning with how fast it’s all going. It’s okay to be reflective and remember the past as long as you don’t get stuck back there. This part of the trip is where you learn to be satisfied with the present”.

“Unoriginal Sin” (feat. Mike Campbell) – per Margo (from Holler)

“The psychedelic journey continues down the blurry rabbit hole of time and space. We were lucky to have Mike Campbell co-write a dark rocker called ‘Unoriginal Sin.’ Working with him on some of these songs was like having a master class in songwriting. Sometimes there are dark corners you haven’t explored for some time, but it does some good to clean them out”.

“Homesick” (feat. Jonathan Wilson) has a Beatleseque vibe. Margo uses the term “homesick” for a feeling vs. place.

“Where Did We Go Wrong” sounds like a long-lost 1970s soft rock hit—a bit country but leaning more toward pop. It’s gorgeous.

“Burn Whatever’s’ Left” is a fantastic ending to the album. A psychedelic vision of death that declares:

“Strike a match and start again
Lock the road, from either end
Build me a house for memories I’ve kept
Then burn whatever’s left”

Margo released a six-song live Strays EP as part of Record Store Day Black Friday 2023. The performance was an in-store show at Grimey’s in Nashville on Strays I album release day (1/13/23). The vinyl is pressed on sangria marble vinyl. Grimey’s famously commissions murals on its outdoor wall to promote new albums. Although I am disappointed at how short this live album is, it is great to hear the road band playing the material. I saw Margo and the band in Phoenix in February 2023 at the Cresent Ballroom, and they were fantastic. This live EP is a beautiful souvenir of the live show. Unfortunately, this Record Store Day vinyl is the only way to listen to the EP.

Strays II is bundled with Strays I on streaming services: