Amanda Shires - Take It Like A Man (LP) - Red Translucent Vinyl

Amanda Shires has always been the kind of artist who lets the fiddle speak as much as the voice. On Take It Like a Man, released July 29, 2022 on ATO Records, she puts both right up front and refuses to flinch. It is a record about desire, damage, and choosing to stay vulnerable anyway. Producer Lawrence Rothman helps her set the table with a sound that leans into mood and texture, but never loses the bite that made her earlier work crackle. You can feel the adrenaline in the room, like the musicians are just a little closer to the edge than usual.

“Hawk for the Dove” kicks the door open. Shires saws her fiddle like it’s a blade, the band pumping behind her while the melody prowls. It’s not coy. It’s hungry and unblinking, a statement that this album won’t fade into the wallpaper. The title track moves the other way, softer on its surface but cutting deep. You hear the weight of experience in her phrasing, the careful way her syllables fall. She has talked openly about writing through turbulence, and you can feel the push and pull of real life in those lines. It is the kind of song people carry around for months.

Rothman’s production is a big part of the album’s character. The textures get cinematic at times, yet the playing stays earthy. You can still picture amps, wood, strings, fingertips. Jason Isbell turns up on guitar, and his tones dart in and out like a trusted accomplice, never stealing the spotlight but adding muscle when it counts. “Empty Cups,” with harmonies from Maren Morris, glows under low light. The song sways, almost like a slow dance in a kitchen, and their voices braid together in a way that feels lived in. It is one of those tracks that sneaks up on you and then refuses to leave.

Shires has been a writer’s writer for years, whether fronting her own band or standing tall in The Highwomen. What lands here is the way she threads tough truths into melodies that sing. She makes intimate music that still feels big. Even when the band opens up, she holds your focus with a tone that can be steely or tender within a single verse. It’s a skill that shows up on “Fault Lines,” where she balances confession with a steady, almost defiant rhythm. This is not a breakup album or a make-up album. It is a complexity album.

Critical response matched the ambition. Outlets like Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and Pitchfork praised the writing and the fearless performances, and it popped up on end of year lists that tend to be tough to crack. That tracks. Shires has never chased trends. She chisels at the core of the song until it hits the nerve she is aiming for, then lets the band breathe around it. The result is a set that sits easily beside the strongest Americana and indie folk records of 2022, though it doesn’t fit neatly into a single bin.

On vinyl, this one blooms. The low end thumps warm, the fiddle’s rosin comes through, and the quiet parts feel extra intimate. If you are thumbing through Amanda Shires albums on vinyl, make a point to linger on this jacket with its striking water imagery. Take It Like a Man vinyl has become a go-to staff recommendation in more than a few shops, the kind of record a clerk will press into your hands with a knowing nod. If you are hunting from home, it’s easy to buy Amanda Shires records online, and the pressing from ATO is a solid bet. I even spotted a few copies tucked in the new release bins at a Melbourne record store last winter, which made me smile. That’s a good sign for anyone searching vinyl records Australia wide.

What keeps me coming back is how human it feels. No tidy moral, no pretty bow. Just a writer and a band working through the beautiful mess, catching sparks when they can. If you know Shires from the Highwomen, this will feel like a companion piece, turning the spotlight closer and letting jagged edges show. If you are arriving fresh, it is a welcome mat that says come in, sit with the songs, and see what they turn up. Amanda Shires vinyl tends to reward repeat spins. This one, especially, keeps revealing new corners every time the needle drops.