Review by Vince Leigh

Nashville’s Calamity Jane distil an interesting prospect in music.

A familiar refrain has coincided with the explosion of DIY artists and the ubiquity of streaming services. Contemporary, accessible pop music is all about singles and no longer about albums.

Au revoir Sgt Pepper? So long Dark Side of the Moon?

With that in mind, artists respond. They do so by measuring their continued validity on the perceived success of their last single.

One act that has fronted up to this new battleground with alacrity and unceasing verve is Nashville based county-pop duo Calamity Jane. But perhaps country music has never been about the album. Maybe it has always been about the song?

The reasons behind that idea are undoubtedly intriguing and worthy of further scrutiny.

Casting aside the late ’60s, the ’70s, and a portion of the ’80s, the stand-alone pop track has always been the central attraction of mass appeal music.

Calamity Jane’s new single, Looking Back, is the follow-up to their most recent Australian release, Give It All Away. This followed a string of others including, Devil Went Down To Georgia (#64 Music Row Charts, US). And subsequent tracks featured on glorified Spotify editorial playlists. See “Wild Country,” “Fresh Finds,” “Next from Nashville,” “New Music Nashville,” and more.

Calamity Jane raising abuse awareness on a big scale

More recently, Calamity Jane has gone viral on TikTok with 2.2 million views on a video around abuse awareness, a platform the group is very passionate about. Their reach continues to grow outside of social media on radio, charting on Music Row in the States and Billboard Radio in Australia.

They can also frequently be seen featured on networks like CMT, TCN, and dozens of others.

Further accomplishments include opening for Maddie & Tae, Travis Denning, Easton Corbin, Joe Diffie, Keith Anderson, and more.

With Looking Back, Calamity Jane once again refine their balancing act, uniting the intimacy and candour of country with all the sweetness and bounce of pop. Their new one is sure to reach the same heights as their previous work, aided by the consistency of quality and their congenial style that will assure Calamity Jane is adding their idiosyncratic presence to a populous field. 

Hear Looking Back on Spotify or YouTube now.