8/10

There’s something thrilling about hearing an artist refuse to stand still. And with 'Am I What I’m Not? Probably Not. Wait!', No Lonesome cracks open his world and lets a sharper wind rush through it.

The Chicago-based project, helmed by Jeb Backe, has long occupied that sweet spot between dust-kissed Americana and scrappy indie experimentation. But this expanded edition of his recent collection tightens the screws. The tempos feel more urgent, the drums strike with greater insistence, and the vocals carry a bracing clarity that cuts straight to the bone.

Backe’s approach has always balanced reverence and curiosity, and that tension remains. You can sense an artist who understands the lineage of roots songwriting yet isn’t content to treat it as museum glass. Instead, these tracks feel lived-in and slightly frayed at the edges, stitched together with intention but unafraid of rawness.

Lyrically, the project moves between self-interrogation and something far grander. There’s a restless questioning at the heart of these songs, an almost philosophical tug-of-war between identity and doubt. But just when the introspection threatens to spiral inward, the music lifts. Choruses open up like skylights, with guitars shimmering and expanding throughout. It’s as if the EP itself refuses to be boxed in by its own anxieties.

'Am I What I’m Not? Probably Not. Wait!' plays like an artist stepping forward with conviction. It’s louder, braver, and more expansive than before, yet still anchored in melody and emotional truth. In a landscape crowded with safe choices, No Lonesome chooses momentum and the leap feels electric.