If you wanted to be all buzzy and clickbaity about it, you could proclaim “Marcus King goes country!” or “Marcus King releases a country album!” But that’s not really what’s going on here. On his new album Darling Blue, Marcus King teams up with Kaitlin Butts and Jamey Johnson for a song, Billy Strings for another, and Jesse Welles also makes an appearance. It’s a Marcus King album, and the first he co-credits with the Marcus King Band since early on in his career. Then the second half is what we’ve come to expect from Marcus King. But you do crave a bit more stink from the guitars since this is so important to the Marcus King experience live.