Flatland Cavalry - Work of Heart

Twelve West Texas vignettes make up Flatland Cavalry's Work of Heart, a 2026 album about life, love and loss from the band that first gathered in Lubbock.

Led by singer and songwriter Cleto Cordero, who writes or co-writes every song here, Flatland Cavalry have built their following the old-fashioned way, on the road and through word of mouth. Their fifth studio album, released on Lost Highway, was recorded at Matchbox Studios in Austin with producer Dwight A. Baker, a familiar collaborator who also helped write several of the songs.

Gone opens the record and sets the emotional temperature, before On and On rolls in with an easygoing, sunlit country groove. Never Comin' Back brings a little more radio polish without sanding off the band's dusty edges, and the title track Work of Heart turns devotion into something plain-spoken and deeply felt. Wesley Hall's fiddle threads through the arrangements, giving them a lived-in, dance-hall warmth.

Cordero's lyrics favour small, specific moments over big slogans, the kind of details that make a song feel like it happened to someone you know. The patchwork-quilt heart on the cover suits the songs perfectly.

Texas country rarely sounds this personal or this generous. It is a handmade record in the best sense, stitched together with care and built to last.