Courtney Marie Andrews spent her early records writing sharp, intimate folk songs. On May Your Kindness Remain, she reaches for something bigger — soulful production, a fuller band, and songs about the people America’s economy leaves behind. It is a record about homes you lose and strangers who help you keep going, and it lands with rare emotional force.
Opening With the Title Track
“May Your Kindness Remain” sets the tone.
It is a plea and a benediction, carried by Andrews’ voice — rich, weathered, and capable of both tenderness and grit. Mark Howard’s production gives it space to breathe, adding warmth without smothering the song’s core.
“Lift the Lonely from My Heart” follows with a slower, more aching pulse. It is the album’s most vulnerable moment, a prayer for connection that never tips into sentimentality.
“Two Cold Nights in Buffalo” is sharper, more concrete. Andrews sings about a woman scraping by in a cheap motel, and the details — the cold, the waiting, the small dignities — make it one of the record’s most affecting tracks.
The Soulful Middle
“Rough Around the Edges” and “Border” form a strong pair. The former is a love song that accepts imperfection; the latter is more political, sketching the lives of people who cross lines — literal and figurative — to survive. Neither overstates its case, and both benefit from Andrews’ restraint.
“Took You Up” is the album’s most soulful cut. The rhythm section locks in, and Andrews lets her voice stretch over the groove.
It is a reminder that she can move bodies as well as hearts.
Kindness as a Theme
“This House” and “Kindness of Strangers” return to the album’s central idea: the fragility of home and the grace of people who help you rebuild. “Kindness of Strangers” is particularly strong, its melody simple and its payoff earned.
“I’ve Hurt Worse” is a quieter, more rueful song. “Long Road Back to You” closes the record with a six-minute meditation on distance and return. It is patient, almost hymn-like, and it earns its length.
Ranking the Standouts
- “Two Cold Nights in Buffalo” — the sharpest storytelling
- “Kindness of Strangers” — the most affecting melody
- “May Your Kindness Remain” — the mission statement
- “Took You Up” — the most soulful groove
- “Border” — the most political moment
The Critical Reception
Critics broadly praised the album as a confident leap for Andrews. Reviewers highlighted her powerful, emotive voice, the bolder production, and her empathetic songwriting about home, class struggle, and human kindness. A couple of outlets, like Uncut, offered more lukewarm assessments.
The Irish Times called it “an album of sustained emotional connection that leaves you all the better for hearing it.” Other reviews noted its “evocative snapshots of the 99-percent” and its “lingering sadness.”
A Confident Leap
May Your Kindness Remain is a confident creative leap. Andrews has written empathetic songs about class and kindness before, but never with this much sonic ambition. The production is bold, the voice is front and center, and the songwriting is consistent across all ten tracks.
Not every song hits the heights of the standouts. The middle of the record sags slightly, and a couple of tracks feel like connective tissue rather than standalone statements. But the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
This is a record that confirms Andrews’ rise.
It is proof that old forms — country, folk, soul — can still feel timeless when handled with this much care.
- May Your Kindness Remain3:54
- Lift the Lonely from My Heart4:57
- Two Cold Nights in Buffalo3:29
- Rough Around the Edges4:12
- Border3:55
- Took You Up4:46
- This House4:04
- Kindness of Strangers3:30
- I’ve Hurt Worse4:15
- Long Road Back to You6:01
