Modern country star Randall King is set to release his much-anticipated new album on the 26th. Not knowing too much of him aside the odd track or two, I’m rather excited to check out a whole album of his. And with all the hype and build-up surrounding this one, I can’t wait. Let’s dive straight in!
Opener ‘One Night Dance’ is the perfect way to start this album off. It’s the perfect radio-country track, modern yet still keeping the traditional instruments and sound too in favour of the more over-produced, electronic modern style. It reminds me a lot of early 2000s in the genre in terms of sound. It’s steady tempo lends itself perfectly to the infectiously catchy vocals, and the typical stripped-back verse contrasts with the bigger, more open choruses amazingly. It’s chilled-out and just a fantastic track. What a way to open an album!
Randall King keeps the same vibes and energy running through ‘Somewhere Over Us’ and ‘When My Baby’s in Boots’. More steady verses leading to huge, arena-filling choruses. It’s a simple, radio-friendly formula that Randall does to perfection. We do, however, get a brief but awesome guitar solo in the former, which was a nice touch! Meanwhile I am already obsessed with the latter track. I feel like it’s going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day and it easily makes our playlist!
‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ has a bit more swagger, attitude and rock to it. The riff is excellent, and I LOVE his low vocal notes in the verses. It reminds me a lot of Brothers Osborne. And, of course, it’s another fantastic, catchy chorus. We get another awesome guitar solo too, continuing the southern/country rock vibe. The way it was mixed almost gives it a duelling guitar sound too across the left and right, which was a really cool, interesting choice. The backing vocals for the bridge were a nice touch and will go over a storm live. I was half expecting a key change for the final chorus, not gonna lie, but I’ll let him off as it’s still an excellent track. It’s also the second in a row to land on our playlist!
‘Hang of Hanging On’ is the first beautiful ballad of the album. The simpler instrumentation was fantastic, mainly focusing on the strings and simple drums. The vocals are powerful and captivating, and the harmonies on them are amazing. I know it’s very early doors still, but I can feel an early ballad of the year contender!
Tracks like ‘Burns like Her’ and ‘Damn You Look Good’ go back to a similar feel and sound as the opening songs. Between them, however, was a really interesting collection of songs. A lot of them, ‘Good Feelin”, ‘Tonk Till I Die’ and ‘Coulda Been Love’ have a bit more of that early 2000s country-rock vibe. I feel like the guitaring and string playing isn’t going to get nearly enough credit in other reviews of this album, so I’d like to give them a MASSIVE shout out here. On every one of these tracks they are the 2nd highlight, next to the big choruses, of course. All three tracks are a lot of fun; bootstomping songs that will have you bobbing or dancing along in seconds. The former is another that sneaks onto our playlist for sure, too!
‘The One You’re Waiting On’ is another steady, beautiful ballad. It’s simple and doesn’t exactly do anything out of left field, but is the perfect slow country song. Meanwhile the title track goes way old-school with its sound. The guitaring and darker, slower tone feel very Hank or Haggard. Meanwhile, the grandiose chorus still adds a modern edge to it all and fits the tone of the song perfectly. It’s catchy as anything. And I really love the mix on this track, too. Another fantastic song on an album packed full of them!
Sadly, we finally reached that time in the album, for me. I’m honestly shocked that I lasted 13 tracks before finally feeling the length, so BIG props to Randall King for that. However, yeah, this album is a tad too long at 18 songs, in this writers humble opinion. And that’s not at all me saying the last few tracks are bad. ‘Right Things Right’ is actually one of my favourite tracks on the album and another playlist contender for sure. It’s just that I’d have preferred a few of the tracks cut out to make a more concise, stronger album, than almost all the ideas and tracks getting on the release. Still, there isn’t a bad song anywhere on this album, and it’s really a small thing to be complaining about, in the grand scheme of things!
Overall: This is an excellent album! As I said above, there really isn’t a bad song on it, and I loved almost every one of them. I love the variety throughout, and it really helped me deal with the intimidating length. From ballads to rockier numbers to more of a pop lean, there is something for everyone here. I would recommend this album to any country fan, and honestly think most other music fans would find something to enjoy, too. I know Randall King is already an established name, but this album has the potential to catapult him to the top of the country landscape!
The score: 9/10