REVIEW: Orville Peck’s ‘Stampede’ is a gay cowboy odyssey
(NEXSTAR) — This week, masked country singer Orville Peck released his third album, “Stampede,” and the star-studded album expands the mythos of Peck’s cowboy character by placing the gruff-voiced gay cowboy in unfamiliar and unexpected settings.
Though the first seven of the album’s 15 tracks were released as an EP in May, the final “Stampede” fills out a fully realized odyssey of sounds that takes listeners on a hero’s journey across the United States. Think of Homer’s “Odyssey,” or to be more recent, the original “Star Wars” trilogy or “The Lord of the Rings” books.
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“Stampede” begins with the homey, place-setting opener, “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other,” which pairs Peck with country legend Willie Nelson. The song finds Peck in his element alongside someone father-like. There’s a real sense of “father-sending-his-son-out-into-the-world” to the wholesome honky-tonk moment. Here, Peck’s (and the listener’s) world makes sense and everything is as it should be.
But before long, Peck’s masked cowboy character is encountering strangers, old faces and new trouble along the road.
Indeed, “Stampede” places Peck — who has so far stayed within country and rock avenues — alongside country/folk artists but also up against some musical styles you wouldn’t ordinarily place on a country album. Some of the most surprising moments include “Miénteme,” in which Peck seemingly wanders into Mexican mariachi-reggaeton club and starts singing in Spanish. Then there’s “Death Valley High,” which sounds like a flashback Peck is having of a debauchery-filled past in Las Vegas (which also happened to somehow be California in the 1990s) — but what else would you expect from a collaboration with Beck?
Peck enters further unfamiliar worlds (and even time periods), as he’s paired up with Elton John for a cover of John’s “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” which conjures the image of Peck wandering into a New York City jazz club and running with it. Later, Peck joins pop princess Kylie Minogue to create a disco theme song for a James Bond movie that also takes place in the Old West. If that sentence doesn’t make sense, listen to the song and it will.
And although “Stampede” is packed with plenty of punch, pizazz and surprise, the album also features a few country-folk ballads that are absolute knockouts, including the longing and mysterious “Back at Your Door,” which pairs Peck with contemporary singer-songwriter Debbii Dawson, and the album’s beautiful, big centerpiece, “How Far Will We Take It?”
A duet with singer Noah Cyrus, the heart-wrenching (and slightly 80s) power ballad sounds like how 2018’s “A Star is Born” would sound if Peck and Cyrus had starred instead of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. This track should seriously be considered in Grammy contention for next year.
Meanwhile, tracks like “Chemical Sunset” find Peck seemingly entering a New Orleans speakeasy, or else, creating an Elvis Presley love song if produced by Phil Spector, with the soaring and romantic penultimate track, “Conquer the Heart.”
Finally, the album’s closer, a cover of the country standard, “Rhinestone Cowboy,” which ties everything together with a wide-eyed hopefulness and pride. The production feels like the finale of a Broadway musical, in a way, with a whole cast coming together to join Peck in celebration of Peck’s place in the world. This cover of “Rhinestone Cowboy” is traditional country but it’s also sung by a gay cowboy who wears a leather face mask who knows the world out there is bigger than the places and musical influences of his past. Singing this particular song to close a country album this expansive feels like a victory lap.
And Peck has every reason to celebrate the end of “Stampede.”
Not only is the album Peck’s most ambitious album, but also his most confident. That confidence includes surprising experimentation, rich concepts and acknowledged limitations of his own voice. Peck’s vocals have never sounded better, as he sticks to his range while enlisting unexpected help to fill out the rest. These improvements over Peck’s already well-regarded previous releases, “Pony” and “Bronco,” signify a real proclamation of Peck’s own identity and his place within music.
“Stampede” shows musical roots of not only country but R&B, modern Latino radio, the works of Fleetwood Mac and euro-dance. Through his career, Peck has been difficult to categorize, as he straddles (pun intended) several genres, often simultaneously. But with “Stampede,” Orville Peck seems to announce, more clearly than ever before, “This is the kind of country artist I am.”
He’s a cowboy, but he’s a rhinestone cowboy.
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