Boy Golden -- Best of Our Possible Lives

On Best of Our Possible Lives, Boy Golden guides you on an intimate tour of your own psyche: the highs, the lows, the crippling self-doubt, the moments where you need to laugh at yourself just a little bit, and, most importantly, accept it all as part of the price of admission to the best (and only) ride we get to go on.

"New Orleans" perhaps best encapsulates the way Boy Golden balances the bitter with the suave. The song is a charming reflection on feeling inadequate – those moments where you wonder what it's all for, if anyone cares, and the self-loathing that comes with endless scrolling. Yet Boy Golden's mischievous delivery won't let anyone get bogged down by the heaviness; his special brand of cosmic country acknowledges the ugliness while keeping things moving.

Indeed, the album kicks off with some truly blistering songs – though the inattentive listener would never know it. "Suffer" kicks things off with simmering rage and radical politics, all while maintaining a veneer of cool; "The Matter at Hand" is similarly biting while maintaining a dreamy, effortless aura.

Yet Best Lives shines brightest when it transcends your average country music yearning. The album stresses the importance of love and friendship, above all else. Golden's chemistry with fellow queer country crooner Cat Clyde is undeniable: "Cowboy Dreams" (which we featured a few weeks ago) and "Moontan" are some of my favorite love songs in recent memory; mellow and sly, a compound of seduction and affection. Meanwhile, "Like a Child" is a celebration of vulnerability and open-ness, while "Meadowsweet" makes the album's Valentine's release more than apt. Indeed, through it all, the only thing we have is now – and suffering and joy are both temporary.

Boy Golden – Official, Bandcamp, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, Apple Music