NPR’s Fresh Air, Slate, BBC, Rolling Stone & More Rave About Angaleena Presley’s “Wrangled”

It’s shaping up to be a busy winter for Angaleena Presley, who returns to the road later this month with Brandy Clark before performing at the UK Americana Awards in London, where she is nominated for ‘International Artist of the Year’.

Meanwhile, critical acclaim for Presley’s sophomore solo album, “Wrangled”, continues to roll in…

A bold, electric record featuring songs co-written alongside country legends (Guy Clark, Wanda Jackson) and contemporary chart-toppers (Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert), “Wrangled” found an audience across multiple genres and several continents throughout 2017. Nearly 60 outlets included the album in their best-of-2017 lists. From national music magazines to British radio stations, Wrangled earned fans across the globe.

On an album filled with all-star names like Clark and Stapleton, it was Presley…the record’s frontwoman, co-producer and main songwriter…who shined the brightest.

Presley proves she’s way more than an outlaw; she’s one of most fearless songwriters working in country music,” wrote Rolling Stone Country, whose editors included Wrangled in the publication’s year-end list of Top 10 albums. The Bluegrass Situation agreed, including the title track in its own end-of-year coverage while also calling Presley “one of the most potent voices…in Nashville.”

Over at AllMusic.com, Wrangled was named one of the Top 70 Albums of 2017, with senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine writing…

She’s intent on expanding the tradition, turning country music into a bolder, more inclusive place, and that desire is what makes Wrangled such a compelling album.”

The praise for “Wrangled”…an independently-released album with major-label acclaims…hardly limited to those outlets. The Bitter Southerner placed “Wrangled” at Number Two on their Best Southern Albums list. The Boot honored the album’s title track as one of the year’s best Americana songs. Another song, “Only Blood,” made the editor’s list of Songs of the Year at Country Music People. Over at Taste of Country, Presley’s album was the eighth best of 2017.

Not only popular in country circles, Wrangled was also named the third-best album of 2017…in any genre…by American Songwriter. “If country music’s about honesty,” the magazine wrote, “then there’s nothing more country out this year.” NPR Fresh Air praised the album’s “country revisionism,” while cross-genre outlets like MSN, Slate, PopMatters, and Yahoo all mentioned “Wrangled” in their year-end coverage. Meanwhile, Rolling Stone columnist Rob Sheffield includ-ed the record in his own rundown of 2017’s Top 20 albums…the only Americana record to make the list.

Many of those who included “Wrangled” paid particular attention to the female voices on the record, The Bitter Southerner declared “If there is a country record that goes with the #metoo movement, “Wrangled’ is it.” and Uproxx, who placed the album in the number one slot of their country run-down…

Presley’s honest depictions of the disappointments and tribulations that women in the south face come as a much-needed answer to all the beer and booty songs that have dominated ‘bro-country’ airwaves for far too long. This one isn’t a fairytale, it’s more of a fable, and the lessons it contains are some of the toughest and the most delicate delivered this year. The more women talk about the bonds that hold them back, the quicker they’ll finally be loosed.” All of this with the news that Taste of Country have declared “Women of Country are the next Chris Stapleton.”

With her February 1st performance at the UK Americana Awards in London, Presley also celebrates her growing audience overseas, as recognized with her nomination for International Artist of the Year at the awards. “Wrangled”, which finished the year at Number 52 on the Americana Radio Airplay Chart, also proved to be a BBC favorite. BBC Scotland praised her live show as one of 2017’s best, while the Spanish publication Dirty Rock Magazine included “Wrangled” in its best-of-2017 roundup.

Perhaps the most poignant quote defining the album’s success, though, comes from The Nashville Scene…

Nashville indie artists like…Angaleena Presley also had a banner year,” the paper wrote, “showing very publicly that you can circumvent the mainstream and come out with great LPs and a livelihood, too. They proved that lingering art doesn’t come from playing nice, but from singing your truth — be that about race, politics, gender inequality or the music business as a whole.”

See Angaleena on the road with Brandy Clark on the following dates: January 25th in Ridgefield, CT, January 26th in New York and January 28th in Boston.

For a complete list of tour dates and more information on Angaleena Presley, visit her website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

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