From the first bass note within the driving drum beat you can tell something is different about the new record from Nikki Lane. The backbeat feels like a gutsy strut while the lead guitar feels like a revved up engine shifting gears. Denim and Diamonds comes out firing, spit shining the cowboy boots and tossing on a jean jacket.

Produced by Joshua Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Denim and Diamonds has the Highway Queen embracing a more rock-oriented sound while still maintaining the heartfelt outlaw country sound she has developed across her previous three releases. Denim and Diamonds still has the fuck-off flare of which Nikki has come to be known. Her stylized, story-telling lyrics are all there as well as her catchy country hooks.

The outlaw country sound is now balanced out with a gritty guitar and a machine gun snare that echoes the sound of 70's rock. Nikki Lane has made a record that sounds new and old. Familiar and surprising.