This week’s crop of new songs come from both newcomers and established hitmakers. Emily Ann Roberts continues releasing solid songs, most recently this flirty, ’90s country-dipped track. Meanwhile, Willow Avalon teams with Jason Isbell for a stunning heartbreak ballad and Jo Dee Messina brings musical gravitas to her empowering new song.
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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of some of the best country, bluegrass and/or Americana songs of the week below.
Emily Ann Roberts, “My Future”
Emily Ann Roberts has been steadily building an arsenal of breezy uptempo tracks and heartfelt ballads. Her warm country twang is perfectly suited for this flirty, fiddle-laced track, which delves into the first blushes of romance. She sings of meeting someone and quickly envisioning a future with them together, including a wedding day, mornings spent sipping coffee together and starting a family. “When you know, you know, and I know it’s you,” she croons sweetly, while the song brims with her signature bubbly personality.
Willow Avalon (feat. Jason Isbell), “Cardinal Sin”
Willow Avalon teams up with Jason Isbell, melding their distinct harmonies with quiet precision on this superb song about betrayal and consequences. Backed by lush strings, they give an understated, intimate delivery of a portrait of a marriage-ending decision, on lines such as “I’m here drinking doubles ’cause I set fire to our wedding vows.” Avalon has already established herself as a top-shelf vocal stylist and keen songwriter, thanks to singles and projects including her 2025 album Southern Belle, Raisin’ Hell — pairing with a writer and artist of Isbell’s stature feels like a natural alignment.
Kenny Whitmire, “Thought Twice About Loving You”
Whitmire and his co-writers Drew Parker and Lindsay Rimes spin a thoughtful, romantic ode of enduring love on this earnest ballad. “I can’t think of one time I’ve looked into your eyes/ And wished it was someone else’s lookin’ back,” he sings, while this song’s classic country feel serves as a perfect vessel for Whitmire’s warm twang. He’s fast cementing himself as a mainstay for fans of timeless country sounds.
Jo Dee Messina, “Don’t Let Them Hide Your Beautiful”
Messina wields both charismatic energy and time-wrought wisdom in this uplifting anthem. “Everyone’s an expert on the things you need to be and everything you need to change,” she sings, exposing societal pressures that people of all ages can succumb to, and instead, daring listeners to feel full confidence in all the things that make them unique. Bridges, Messina’s first album of new music in a decade, is slated for June 5.
80 Acres (feat. Treaty Oak Revival), “Mess We Made”
Dylan Marlowe has formed the five-member band 80 Acres with Christian Strahley (drums), Ethan Leak (guitar), David Medlin (guitar) and John Frisch (bass). They just released a self-titled EP, which includes a new collab with Treaty Oak Revival. This furious rock track dips heavily into full-throttle, grungy guitar stylings and pummeling percussion, while setting the scene of a crumbling romance that’s beyond repair on lines such as, “It feels like lately it’s been damage control.” Adding TOR to the mix ups the stakes on what feels like a summer anthem for the broken-hearted.
