Wandering Star

Rough Trade tip for 2026. We simply love this album and so will you. For fans of Weyes Blood, Angel Olsen, Lana Del Rey, Clairo, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris. Part of an intriguing LA scene that boasts several acts harking back to the halcyon days of Laurel Canyon songwriting – including Alex Amen, Drugdealer, Sylvie and Sam Burton.

Los Angeles–based singer-songwriter Haylie Davis presents Wandering Star, a coming-of-age debut that unfolds like a Townes Van Zandt tale set in a deserted diner off a re-routed interchange: intimate, cinematic and quietly fearless.

Haylie Davis channels the spirit of the early ’70s, when Carole King and Joni Mitchell redefined songwriting. That time-travelling sensibility is celebrated on Wandering Star, the album’s title track and new single. A piano-led meditation steeped in longing, the song carries the eerie shadow of Karen Carpenter, buoyed by a luminous, aching sub-melody.

The blissful ballad ‘Horns of Time’ taps into a plaintive cosmic country palette reminiscent of Emmylou Harris. ‘Give Me a Rainbow’ follows, a lo-fi folk reverie recalling Clairo, as if filtered through a back-porch-reclining, wide-eyed Dolly Parton in awe of her own roots. Rolling Stone has hailed Davis’ earlier recordings as “gently hued Laurel Canyon folk-pop songs”, and on Wandering Star her compass swings wider still. Her maturing worldview and distinctive vocal at times evoke Lana Del Rey and Weyes Blood crafting an ode to Gram Parsons - a hybrid on full display in the self-examining passion of ‘I Was Wrong’.

A fresh take on modern pop, Wandering Star is infectious, brimming with hooks, soaring choruses and storylines that tug at the heartstrings.