Country music has hip-shaking Georgia boys, sweet-crooning duos and more than its fair share of tall, dark and predictable singing songs about love, loss and alcohol. But the genre has never experienced anything like Essex County. Comprised of British brothers Nate, Mark and Kieran Bass, the trio is easily one of country music’s most artful and nuanced groups.

The band’s sound is rich with tight, family harmonies, studded by multi-octave vocal ranges and broadened by sweeping country and rock influences that are showcased in songs that swing from soulful and heartfelt to holler-and-swaller. “We’re hoping they’re the biggest country act to ever come from the United Kingdom,” said the band’s Grammy-winning producer Ron Fair, who has produced albums that have sold more than 100 million copies. “Mark is a savant of the guitar. Kieran is lockstep in all the harmony parts and a super consistent singer with fantastic tone. And Nate has this vintage tone that’s old school, but new school. It’s elegant, but it’s very masculine and satisfying. In the studio, we can use it as a weapon.”