One of the best names in country (you can fight me on that), Cody Jinks is back with his first studio album in nearly three years. I’ve been obsessed with Cody for years now, and have been impatiently waiting for this album since it was even rumoured. Heck, it’s made it onto our last two most anticipated albums lists! So, y’all know I just had to do a long review for this one. Let’s dive right in!
Opener ‘Sober Things’ sets up the tone perfectly. For those unfamiliar with Cody’s style, this is kinda the perfect introduction to it. He’s a storyteller, first and foremost, and this track perfectly encapsulates his feelings and experiences since his last release. It’s a simple, slower song that mainly focuses around Cody’s incredible vocals and the simple strings and piano behind it. It’s filled with emotion and incredible writing, and I love it. What a fantastic song to kick things off with!
Lead single ‘Outlaws and Mustangs’ keeps the chilled out vibes going, but does add a healthy dose of drums, filled and higher energy on top of it. The steady verse leads to a massive, infectiously catchy chorus that deserves to ring out across huge festival crowds across the world. And, much like the previous track, the lyrics are phenomenally written. We also get an incredible fiddle solo tucked in the middle, doubled up with a guitar one. It fit the feel and sound of the track perfectly, and leads to the HUGE final chorus. Especially with the choir backed outro, *chef’s kiss*. It’s an amazing song, and one that easily makes our playlist!
‘I can’t Complain’ opens on Cody’s isolated chorus vocals before the rest of the band explode in with another awesome melody and sound. The verse channels a similar vibe and melody, which gives the track a really interesting, coherent feel, like it’s more of a story which happens to have musical backing. The chorus is amazing with the instruments behind it too, sounding massive. And yet again, we get an awesome, almost rock guitar solo in the track. It gave off Eagles/Slash vibes, which of course I loved! Cody Jinks has never been one to stick fully to one sound, and I love the darker, heavier country tone he does at times, and especially here.
The wonderful Pearl Aday, adopted daughter of the late and incredible Meat Loaf, joins Cody on the next track, ‘Take this Bottle’. The pace slows back down to more of a ballad track, and their two voices compliment each other perfectly. It reminds me of Kid Rock and Cheryl Crow’s ‘Picture’ with its arrangement, and somber love-ish song. I also had no idea that Pearl would fit into country music this well, only really being familiar with her solo rock stuff and her backing vocal work. If anything, it arguably seems like more of a natural fit!. Hopefully she carries on with it in the future! Having said that, it does still have a slight rock arrangement and edge to it, like a lot of Cody’s stuff does. It’s another great track, and I cannot get over how well the pair work together!
‘Deceiver’s Blues’ has an almost jazzy/swing feel to it in the riff and melody. It immediately sets it apart from the other tracks on the album until this part, and grabbed my attention fast. Vocally and guitar-wise I can’t get enough of it, it all being at a pretty similar level but very much an awesome one. Cody’s lyrics are again amazing and fit the tone of the song perfectly. And it has not one, but two great guitar solos in it, what a treat! What an awesome song!
Songs like ‘A Few More Ghosts’ and ‘Always Running’ are more amazing tracks, but have pretty similar sound and feel to ‘Outlaws…’ and ‘I Can’t Complain’. They’re awesome, but pretty typical Cody Jinks tracks, so I sadly don’t have much to say about them!
It’s a completely different story with single ‘Change the Game’. Honestly, this song is phenomenal, and I have barely stopped listening to it since it’s release. It’s incredible, and one of the best songs Cody Jinks has ever done. Everything from the vocal melody to the guitars to the lyrics to the melody, it’s all perfect. And, surprisingly for Cody, it’s pretty uplifting. The chorus is amazing and maybe my favourite from him. Of course it easily makes it onto our playlist, everyone needs to stop reading this and check out the track immediately!
‘I Would’ slows down the pace after the upbeat previous track. It also returns to the darker tone. The same can be said for ‘The Working Man’ and ‘Wasted’. I like this album slowing down a bit in the latter stages, which isn’t something I feel often, honestly. All three are great, slower country rock tracks, and a good time to listen to. Heck, the closing track, ‘What You Love’ is a piano-country ballad, and feels like the perfect send off to this album. I usually prefer albums going out with a bang but damn, this was an excellent song and choice to close things out on. It almost had an epic feel to it, with the swelling strings, which I love. And the vocals and lyrics are filled with emotion. It’s fantastic, and another easy highlight track!
Overall: I loved this. I knew I would, as I’ve loved all of Cody’s stuff. However, a lot of this is up there with some of his best music. And as an album as a whole, it is excellent and incredible well put together, mixed and arranged. It’s going to take a few more listens (which it will for sure get) but it’s already up there pretty high on my list of my favourite albums from him. Any country fans, or actually rock fans too, should check this out immediately, you won’t regret it! It’ll sure be in the conversation of best country album of the year come December!
The Score: 9/10