The album affirms Strings as an old-school devotee, even as it equips him to further translate bluegrass for a younger and more eclectically minded audience

So Much for Goodbyes can feel overstuffed at times, but no individual track runs overlong. Strings has plenty to say, and he says it. Often, he does so by blending where he came from with other places he's visited, and it makes for a truly distinct sound

A year after his mother died of an overdose, the boundary-breaking bluegrass guitarist returns with an idiosyncratic and personal new record

Despite the backstory, this is rich, often uplifting music from an artist who still barely seems to have broken sweat

So Much For goodbyes is starkly confessional, and openly anguished - but redeemed well short of the actually funereal by a warmth and wit that permeates proceedings even at their bleakest

He's got a lot on his mind: loss, grief, growing up, and becoming a parent himself. Matching the prodigious musical ability that has been apparent all along is one of his best collections of songs to date

The crossover star’s introspective sixth album is full of memories of his mother, who died in 2025, bringing his dextrous guitar to songs rooted in tradition and yearning