In early 2012, then eighteen-year-old Jake Bugg released his first United Kingdom hit, the folky, buoyant “Lightning Bolt.” Later that year, his debut album reached number one in the U.K. Five years on, Bugg has released four albums, toured the world and been a Brit Awards and Mercury Prize nominee and New Musical Express and Q Awards winner.

A native of Nottingham, England, Bugg journeyed to Nashville to make his new album, Hearts That Strain. It’s an achingly lovely collection inf...