Ashley McBryde, “The Devil I Know.”

One of the brightest female voices in country music, Ashley McBryde is back at it with her third album, The Devil I Know. McBryde returns to her roots with 11 tracks full of vulnerability and heart.

A mix of rock, bluegrass and traditional country, it’s an impactful collection that brilliantly captures her wit and charm. Already a master of conveying emotion and small-town comfort, McBryde explores different variations of the country sound while still doing what she does best as a storyteller.

After her creativity was put on display with 2022’s Lindeville, about a cast of characters from a fictional town, the new album continues to drop listeners directly into the scenes she sets.

“Cool Little Bars” is a bluegrass ode to dive bars, complete with washboards and harmonicas accompanying lyrics about coin-operated jukeboxes and two-for-one beer specials. You can almost feel the tack of the vinyl bar top as she sings about the regulars sitting around a table in the corner playing dominoes. McBryde praises bars like this that keep neighborhoods alive and the cookie-cutter gentrification away.

On fast-paced album opener “Made For This,” she speaks on what it’s like trying to chase a dream in music. What might seem like glamorous life from the outside is really all-night bus rides and missing home, but there are the moments that make it worth it. The sped-up, slightly modulated percussion seems to invoke life in the fast lane.

McBryde brings in a bit of bluegrass and a folky influence to some tracks. “Coldest Beer In Town” is dominated by a chorus of bright acoustic guitar lines. She sings about everyday lies, connecting a cliche breakup to false advertising.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, some songs carry a harder rock-influenced sound. These include “Blackout Betty,” about a woman who can’t handle her liquor but overdoes it anyway. Over an electric guitar solo on the bridge, McBryde’s singing grows stronger, keeping up with the heavier instrumentation.

There’s plenty of more traditional country songs with pedal steel guitar and piano, such as “Whiskey and Country Music,” on which she sings about her creature comforts.

One of the best things about The Devil I Know is the vulnerability and heart that Ashley McBryde infuses into these songs. She writes for the heartbroken and creates a safe space for those who’ve felt it. On “Light On In The Kitchen,” one of the strongest tracks on the album, she sings about always being there to provide support, a listening ear or just a place to sit and talk.

Then there’s “Learn To Lie,” about growing up with parents in an unhealthy relationship, creating an unstable home life. “I wished I had learned how to love the same way I learned how to lie,” she sings about hiding her feelings and ignoring the problems, adding that it affected the relationships in her adult life. The powerful song fades out with an electric guitar solo that feels like it’s speaking to the chaos of feeling many things but not having the space to talk about them.

McBryde packs a punch into every song, giving the album the complexity of a longer offering. It puts her head and shoulders above blander country music stars.

Follow writer Piper Westrom at Twitter.com/plwestrom.