By It’s our Bandcamp Pick of the Week, featuring Michaela Anne’s heartening collection of love songs, THESE ARE THE DAYS!
Michaela Anne – THESE ARE THE DAYS
Genre: Country, Americana
Favorite Tracks: “Two Pianos,” “That’s What I Tell Georgia,” “If Your Body Fails You”
Despite the plaudits received for the 2019 LP, DESERT DOVE, Michaela Anne’s work has largely been slept on by those outside the roots and country scenes. If the numbers are any indication, 2022’s OH TO BE THAT FREE failed to capitalize on the spotlight cast by Rolling Stone, Stereogum, and The New York Times. Since then, Anne has gone through a number of events in her personal life—most notably, the birth of a child.
In a similar turn of events, this writer has gone through huge personal milestones that have put him off from writing about music. Perhaps this is the reason he has latched onto this album in an effort to catch up on some of 2026’s releases. Regardless, one doesn’t need to have taken a break from the things they love to appreciate THESE ARE THE DAYS. Michaela Anne delivers sharp tunes that evoke Emmylou Harris and Kacey Musgraves, though with an increased focus on the interior rather than the world at large. In this way, the record reads like a musical scrapbook—an heirloom to document moments, memories, and to pass wisdom down to the child who has inspired several of the songs. Opener “We’re All Good” is the type of story song that seems to contradict this idea, but its central message—essentially that we’re all human, our flaws do not define us but rather our good intentions and devotion to others—serves as something of a throughline.
At its heart, THESE ARE THE DAYS is a collection of love songs. Anne’s insights aren’t particularly original—see “Will You Still Love Me With a Broken Heart”—but originality is not the be all and end all. What matters is the execution and sincerity, and for a large swath of this record, her voice will have the most tender hearted of listeners getting misty when she belts out lines like, “We are more than the way that we reflect the light,” on “If Your Body Fails You,” or leave you with chills when she harmonizes with Caroline Spence on “Two Pianos.” It’s a feat that separates her from the clowns that dominate country radio, a fact she cheekily seems to be aware of on “B-Sides.” Perhaps it’s fitting that THESE ARE THE DAYS be showered with praises on the small corners of the internet rather than the mainstream music outlets. Listen now on Bandcamp.
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