RAGLAND

                                                                "Better to Be Lonely" 

                                                                Independent Release

Navigating the very tough Texas Country Music Scene is no easy task for an independent act, but Ragland has clearly found their path over the past few years, making a strong mark at Texas radio by charting half a dozen songs - “Call My Bluff,” “On Fire,” etc. - and receiving monumental praise for their last album, the 20-song concept piece More Like a Melody.

With a substantial amount of buzz surrounding them, the husband-and-wife duo is setting pace to release their 4^th album Guardian this upcoming September, while giving the listeners a bold preview of it with “Better to Be Lonely,” a song which simultaneously released with  “I Think I Love You Too Much,” and will be followed later this year by "What Happened Mama" and "Throwing My Life Away.”

Working with Hank Early of Turnpike Troubadours has helped elevate the edgy, alt. country style that has become the signature of Ragland, as they’ve turned up all the right notches of it while lessening some other pieces of it to create a very focused style that walks the lines of several different genres but stays firmly centered on letting the duo deliver what they’ve always done best.

Walking into their moody alt. country tilted sound, Autumn Ragland sings us through lines that set the friction filled relationship in motion throughout each of the verses:

“Can we talk without screaming?”

“I’ll fix my tongue when you fix your attitude.”

“No more conversations when you’re not even listening.”

“No more of your opinion, about a situation you ain’t ever been in.”

These lyrics, which put the spotlight on the continuously arising conflicts and negative back and forth, lead us straight into the smack of the simple, to the point two-line chorus, “It’s better to be lonely, then to feel alone when you’re with me.”

Intriguingly, when the song punches into the chorus there’s a shift in style that leans out of the moody darker toned feel that we’ve been experiencing throughout the verses, and hits with an up and down strum in the guitars that gives the atmosphere a catchiness that will have the listener grooving while perfectly capturing the happiness that matches the eureka moment of the lyrics.

Ragland absolutely advances their overall vibe with “Better to Be Lonely” and brings it to more of mainstream radio friendly feel, but smartly only allows just enough of that modern kissed familiarity to creep in to hold the listeners attention, so that they can place more focus on their experimental growth spurt through the verses with that much more confidence that the listener is staying tuned in.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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