The music of Odetta Hartman is fueled by creation, no matter the outcome, and Old Rockhounds Never Die is a wellspring of genuine freak-folk experimentation. Spiraling banjos and country pianos could turn into short, tuneful folk ballads, or they succinctly end as sweet vignettes that playfully tinker with sound. This sophomore album proves that the way Hartman deconstructed home-spun atmosphere on her debut was more than just a phase; it’s a fully integrated accent in her music that unravels throughout each song. Field recordings of oceans and trains are malleably crafted, intertwining with the more “authentic” sounds to instill a trans-generational voice to her songwriting. The shorter instrumentals on Rockhounds often feel like ideas that could bud into their own unique genres, blending hip-hop and noise, almost flaunting the number of potential ideas each song hides. This playfulness doesn’t attempt to hide the raw sentiment of Hartman’s lyrics; sorrow and rage and sensuality feel quite genuine against this idiosyncratic backdrop. Old Rockhounds Never Die finds reverie when it digs its talons into sonic territories that bleed together, and each composition is a grove of ideas begging to be explored. –Tucker Pennington
