Weakness EP (Third Man, 2017)

Margo Price's surprise EP, "Weakness," is a pleasant surprise, indeed. It may be concise, but it's packed tightly with good stuff.

The project's title cut is a bit confessional and finds Price admitting, "Sometimes my weakness is stronger than me." Price sings it like a down home cowgirl, over a toe-tapping beat. She follows this upbeat track with a moody piece called "Just Like Love," which is played in a minor key, and is a "Jolene"-esque meditation. Price returns with something more lighthearted in "Paper Cowboy." This 'paper cowboy' of which she speaks, is a song where Price can be heard seriously questioning a dude's manhood. She sings it over a thumping groove that hearkens back to the Flying Burrito Brothers' early country-rock experiments, especially with the song's rocking steel guitar part. Price closes her four-song EP with a sad goodbye song, "Good Luck (For Ben Eyestone)."

Some may try to convince you that relevant contemporary music cannot come packaged in traditional sounds. However, Price's "Weakness" is solid proof of how one throwback country girl has plenty to say to the modern world.