LaFarge, Pokey: Rent Money

For two decades, Pokey LaFarge has walked his own iconoclastic road - forthright, genuine, unafraid to put it all out there.

Rent Money marks another step forward, arguably his finest collection yet: both a heartfelt personal statement and no-nonsense social commentary. Twanging guitars, plucky rhythms, and captivating melodies make the album soar and swing, its joyous refrains masking an undercurrent of worry fitting for troubled times.

As ever, the Illinois native crosses genre boundaries with ease, blending strains of 20th-century American music through earnest songcraft and subversive creativity. Rent Money stands as a high-water mark for LaFarge - a defining work from a one-of-a-kind artist of rare ingenuity and candor, crafting deeply human music all his own.