Four years on from the critically acclaimed behemoth that was Saint Cloud – a record that sat pretty near the summit of prestigious Top 50 lists across the globe – Katie Crutchfield, aka Waxahatchee, is back with Tigers Blood. It proves to be Saint Cloud’s extroverted, confident younger sibling.

And that’s saying something, because Saint Cloud was one beast of an album.

Throughout Tigers Blood, the brilliant guitar and harmonies from polymath MJ Lenderma add considerable ballast. Meanwhile, trusted producer Brad Cook maintains the formula he and Crutchfield perfected on Saint Cloud, with masterful excursions into folk, country and Americana.

Simultaneously tender and robust, ‘365’ in particular is the sound of an artist at the peak of their powers. Indeed, creating earworms is meat and drink to Waxahatchee. There are hooks aplenty, whether it be the up-tempo religiosity of ‘Ice Cold’; the earnest ‘Evil Spawn’; or the slouchy pace of hot nights in ‘Right Back To It’.

Elsewhere, the widescreen, road-tripping ‘3 Sisters’ and lead single ‘Bored’ will be yelped and whooped by audiences across Waxahatchee’s extensive European tour, which culminates with a mid-summer date at Vicar Street on August 1. One to look forward to...

8/10