Radio-friendly album with indie leanings is a perfect summer soundtrack.
How long do you have to be in the music business to be categorised as “seasoned veterans”? That is the label now being attached to Will Taylor and Charlie Martin, aka Hovvdy. From their roots in Austin via five studio albums, the duo are now published songwriters in Nashville. That path, from Austin to Nashville, is not an uncommon one, of course, but it says much about the reputation that the pair have fostered since their 2016 debut album, Taster.
In crafting the songs for the new album, they sought out their long-time friend and past Hovvdy collaborator, Bennett Littlejohn, to handle production. Over a handful of recording sessions between Nashville and Asheville in autumn 2025, Martin and Taylor adopted a recording approach that was new for them as a band: coming to the sessions only with instrumentals rather than fully drafted demos, choosing to write and respond to the songs in real time.
Across those first five studio albums, the duo established a trademark sound of twangy indie rock, 2000s-inspired pop-country, and emotional acoustic ballads with strong pop sensibilities, so it is, perhaps, unsurprising that Big World is an album that has a commercial appeal about it. Take What I Had, for example. As the track kicks in, we also have a mournful-sounding harmonica that offers up some kind of assurance, if one were needed, that underneath that commercial surface, the band retains some of that Austin authenticity.
Many of the tracks barely make the three-minute mark and, like breakout single Try Try Try, hit the mark like quick, instant adrenaline shots with a summer of love vibe about them. As a counterpoint, there is more of a rootsy feel to the more pared-back songs. Taylor muses, “I love the idea of a song triggering different imagery and emotions, without it being this linear or straightforward message. It’s almost like a dream.” Taylor carries this torch on Junk, painting observations of items you might find in a tool-shed amidst musings on life’s deeper motives. Junk meanders along nicely with strummed guitar, odd bursts of violin and a synth warble mid-track.
Hovvdy retain a definite indie vibe and closing track Wannabe (Radio Queen) is as good a demonstration of that as any. Big World may not be for those who lean towards the grittier side of americana, but it would be a mistake to dismiss this as a throwaway product of the Nashville conveyor belt.
