You picked Courtney Marie Andrews – Valentine as your favorite new release for the week of January 16, 2026.
Now & Then: Zach Bryan’s With Heaven On Top and the shadow of Heartbreaker
There’s a funny thing happening in 2026: Zach Bryan can drop a 25-track album and people still talk about it like it was passed hand-to-hand on a porch.
Readers’ Pick: Zach Bryan – With Heaven On Top
You picked Zach Bryan – With Heaven On Top as your favorite new release for the week of January 9, 2026.
Now & Then: The Deslondes’ Holy Cross Blues and the shadow of Music From Big Pink
Some albums arrive like a fresh coat of paint. Others show up like somebody finding an old Polaroid in a jacket pocket and realizing: oh right, this is who we were. Holy Cross Blues is that second kind. It doesn’t feel “new” in the trendy sense. It feels newly revealed.
Readers’ Pick: The Deslondes – Holy Cross Blues
You picked The Deslondes – Holy Cross Blues as your favorite new release for the week of January 2, 2026.
Now & Then: Jason Isbell’s Foxes in the Snow and the shadow of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska
Jason Isbell has made a career out of writing songs that feel like they come with fingerprints still on them. Even when the 400 Unit is roaring behind him, you can usually hear the quiet draft underneath.
Twangville’s 2025 Favorites are…
The Twangville pick for Album of the Year is Foxes in the Snow by Jason Isbell. Recorded as a stark, all-solo acoustic statement, it hit our critics and readers the same way his best work does: sharp writing, lived-in emotion, and melodies that don’t need anything extra to land.
Tom’s Tops: 2025
Brandi lands at the top with a record that feels big and intimate at the same time. The whole album sounds like someone taking stock of a life and choosing love, family, and honesty.
Readers’ Pick: Best Album of 2025
Congratulations to Kier Byrnes & The Kettle Burners’s Before The Fall for landing in the top spot of Twangville’s Readers’ Pick of 2025 poll. The full results are below.
Readers’ Pick: Best of 2025
It’s the season to ask you, our beloved readers, what your favorite album of 2025 was. To help, we’ve created a poll with over 100 nominations. If you’re wondering where this list comes from, it comes from your contributions to our poll throughout the year. We’ve created this amazing list of the top 25 picks from each season.