Stampede

Orville Peck rounds up more than a few of his most talented friends on <i>Stampede</i>, a collaborative collection with one hell of a guest list. The enigmatic, masked country singer opens the record with a Willie Nelson-assisted cover of Ned Sublette’s clever, queer 1981 song “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other”, which Nelson famously recorded in 2006. Elton John joins Peck for a spirited take on the former’s 1973 hit “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)”, with Peck’s Roy Orbison-esque croon a dramatic counterpoint to John’s masterful belt. Peck and Allison Russell make formidable partners on “Chemical Sunset”, with a loose, jazzy arrangement that’s one of the project’s better grooves. Bluegrass virtuoso Molly Tuttle and her band Golden Highway get things loose and rootsy on “Papa Was a Rodeo”, a cover of the winking Magnetic Fields song off the band’s seminal <i>69 Love Songs</i>. Margo Price assists Peck on the impeccably titled “You’re an Asshole, I Can’t Stand You (And I Want a Divorce)”, an original song that manages to be both funny and wrenching. And Peck closes the project with an extra-special cover of Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy”, performing the song with three other out, gay country artists: TJ Osborne, Fancy Hagood and Waylon Payne.