Our Year

Hitting on a solid formula with 2013’s Cheater’s Game, the husband-wife team of Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis bring back producer Brad Jones to keep them locked in the groove for 2014’s Our Year, which is everything fans could hope for. The duo’s insistence on sticking to traditional instrumentation and on remaining true to the music that inspired them only heightens their natural talents as singers. A cover of Tom T. Hall’s “Harper Valley P.T.A.”—a monster hit for Jeannie C. Riley—may sound too familiar in context with the originals and lower-profile covers, but the authentic take fits the bill. Chris White’s “This Will Be Our Year”—a highlight of The Zombies’ classic psychedelic pop album, the misspelled Odessey & Oracle—works just as powerfully as a country closer. Robison and Darden Smith’s “Carousel” has the familiarity of a long-lost classic. In fact, every song here hits the mark, making Our Year a perfect counterpart to Cheater’s Game, as if the two albums were part of an ambitious double set.