Ever since streaming took over for CD’s, it’s been hard to find an album I’m  willing to hear over and over again. When the entirety of recorded music is competing for our eardrums and attention, it’s tough to stick with one record and get to know it intimately the way we did when we had to purchase music. But one exception for this writer is Out in the Storm by Waxahatchee.

Somehow it’s been nearly a decade since its 2017 release, but it still sounds as fresh as ever while at the same time evoking an early ’90s heyday of alt-rock female singer-songwriters such as Liz Phair and Juliana Hatfield. On ten tracks of no filler, with every song going all out, singer-songwriter Kathryn Crutchfield emotes every sensation from rage to bliss to boredom.

Crutchfield started performing as Waxahatchee back in 2010, naming herself after a creek she grew up near in Alabama. In the 15 years since, she’s put out six albums, each one having its highlights, most recently 2024’s ode to her newfound sobriety, Tigers Blood. But it’s Out in the Storm that keeps drawing me back.

In a 2017 interview with Nylon, Crutchfield called her fourth release both her rock album and her break-up record: “[I]t’s a lot of things sort of hitting you quickly and sort of packed into 30 minutes. So, it kind of has that stormy feeling anyway. I just like the title because I think being “out in the storm” implies that it’s a moment—that it’s not going to last forever, and there’s hope in that.”

Break-up records have the reputation of being one note while Out in the Storm is anything but, perhaps demonstrating the truth behind the adage that grief has many stages. From the opener, ”Never Been Wrong,” with its aggressive guitar riffs, through the pretty strumming of the closer, “Fade,” the record’s listenabilty on repeat stems from never dwelling on one mood for too long, always catching you by surprise even when you have it memorized.

Waxahatchee opens for Wilco 7:30pm Tuesday, April 29 at The Fillmore Miami Beach. waxahatchee.com ~ Davifd Rolland