“It’s hotter than hell, but don’t it make for a sunset” begins Orchid South, the third album by acclaimed Memphis singer-songwriter Chris Milam (he/him). Introducing a lush, bold rock & roll record full of extremes—the highs and lows of adolescence—Milam sets a stage of looming disaster and irrepressible beauty. This is Milam’s teenage wasteland: it’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel everything.

Milam’s first two albums,Kids These Days (2017) and Meanwhile (2020), earned him widespread critical acclaim (“Invites—and earns—the Paul Simon comparisons,” raved American Songwriter). Years of dogged, grassroots touring and festival appearances (SXSW, Americanafest) earned him a dedicated fanbase across the US & UK. Collaborations and co-bills with Stax legend William Bell, Valerie June, Amanda Shires, Cory Branan, et al earned Milam’s reputation as an ascendent artist to watch.

Now comes Orchid South, Milam’s third LP. Like his first two, OS was cut at High/Low Recording in Memphis with Milam’s longtime producer Toby Vest. But unlike the electronically-inflected folk of Kids These Days, or the stripped-down Americana of Meanwhile, Orchid South is Milam’s most ambitious project to date: eleven songs in four days, one band, all recording live on the tracking room floor.

Every aspect of Orchid South—from its inception through its production—runs counter to current music industry trends. Here is an old-school, cohesive album in a singles world. A singer-songwriter album of loud, fast rock songs. Live recording in an age of overdubs. And an independent artist writing swing-for-the-fences anthems.

“Thankfully,” laughs Milam, “Memphis knows a thing or two about rock and roll.”

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