On Halloween, Fayetteville folkster and Gar Hole Records<\/a> co-founder Nick Shoulders<\/a> will drop his fifth album, \u201cRefugia Blues,\u201d a collection of songs he likened to Bruce Springsteen\u2019s stripped-back \u201cNebraska\u201d in a recent interview with Holler<\/a>. \u201cSome people listen to Bruce for the E Street Band and the big radio hits, but I like the intimacy and rawness of \u2018Nebraska\u2019 instead,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d like to think of \u2018Refugia Blues\u2019 as a little window into the heart, as opposed to the drumbeat of a revolution.\u201d Ahead of the release, Shoulders has shared two tracks: the a cappella \u201cApocalypse Never<\/a>,\u201d which came out last year, and \u201cDixie Be Damned,\u201d which came out on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new song, like much of Shoulders\u2019 work, overtly critiques those in power and encourages solidarity among the oppressed: \u201cThey told you ya built the levee \/ And you\u2019ve gotta keep the water out too \/ How much do you have in common with thems that direct you? \/ Country clubs and plantations just won\u2019t do \/ Dixie be damned: I believe in you.\u201d It\u2019s a sentiment that\u2019s hard to disagree with (and Shoulders\u2019 voice and whistling are as captivatingly mellifluous as ever), but it feels like well-trodden territory at this point. Here\u2019s hoping that the rest of the \u201cRefugia Blues\u201d \u2014 which \u201cbalances the macro with the micro, too, making room for love songs and personal topics\u201d according to Holler \u2014 will show as much as it tells. You can pre-order the album on vinyl, cassette and CD here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n