The amazing Lainey Wilson is back with her first album since her breakout, Grammy-winning release, Bell Bottom Country. We checked out that release and enjoyed it, but she has since grown on me a lot more. So, of course we had to check out this upcoming release, especially when we were sent it a few days before release! Let’s dive in!
‘Keep up with Jones’ opens up the album perfectly; a foot-stomping number that focuses on the acoustic guitar and Lainey’s now-iconic vocals. A simple verse leads to a catchy as anything, fun chorus. The subtle backing vocals/harmonies add so much to it, making it almost instantly memorable. Immediately, it’s made to be played to huge crowds at festivals and in arenas. And, while the lyrics are somewhat stereotypical for country, Lainey does a great job of making them her own and keeping the cringiness away, as seen throughout the whole album really. We even get an awesome extended blues/southern guitar and organ solo tucked away in the middle, adding even more greatness to the song. It’s the perfect way to open this album, and immediately made it onto our playlist. An amazing start!
I’ve been obsessed with ‘Country’s Cool Again’ since the moment it came out. Everything about the song is just so fun and enjoyable, and it was the perfect, up-beat first single to release. I shan’t say too much about the track as we actually did a reaction video to it, which I’ll drop below, where I got most of my thoughts out of it. However, it’s a really excellent song, and one that I’ve still not stopped listening to months later. And it seems like she can do it awesomely live, which is another bonus!
Up next is the latest single, the Miranda Lambert featuring ‘Good Horses’. It feels like a similar more Americana, slightly darker sound from her last album. However, that doesn’t make the song any less awesome. The pairs vocals work effortlessly amazingly together, their harmonies and duel vocals magical together. And they also make the chorus hugely more catchy than it would have been with just the one of them. It’s a simple track but the instrumentation works so well, making it instantly memorable.
‘Broken Hearts Still Beat’ is the first beautiful ballad of the album. Opening on Lainey’s awesome vocals over some simple piano chords, the instrumentation stays stripped back throughout but still builds perfectly. The chorus is incredible too, massively catchy and simply arranged with just the one vocal track. It’s going to be one stuck in my head for days to come, I’m sure. And the emotion throughout the track is palpable, making it easily relatable. It’s an amazing song and another one that easily makes it onto the playlist!
The album’s title track is an interesting one, a pop-country banger of a love song. Again Lainey manages to do the vaguely stereotypical song content without it sounding in any way cringy, it feeling fresh and interesting. It almost feels like a neo-traditional country track, it having plenty of elements and inspiration from 90s and before as well as a modern tinge to it. It’s another simple track in terms of the arrangement, it following the simple radio structure, but it’s a fantastic song all the same, and fits the tone of the album perfectly!
‘Call a Cowboy’ is another fun, albeit another slow track. The same can be said for the likes of ‘Counting Chickens’, ‘Middle of it’ and ‘Devil Don’t Go There’. All are fantastic tracks, and spread pretty evenly throughout the album so as to keep plenty of variety and keep it interesting. And on a 14-track country album, you’ve gotta expect some ballads, and no one does them quite like Lainey. And there are definite highlights to both, too. Particularly the former’s massive, epic, rocky final chorus, and the latter’s amazing lyrics and vocal melodies.
Single ‘Hang tight Honey’ is a fun, upbeat, infectiously catchy track. It’s another great choice for a single, too. It fits perfectly with the current radio-country-rock vibe, and damn, that chorus is amazing. It’s the perfect blend of old and new school. And we even get an awesome guitar solo in the middle, a highlight of the album as it’s packed full of emotion and soul. I’d LOVE to hear and dance along to this song live, and it’s another easily playlisted track!
‘Bar in Baton Rouge’ starts slow with some beautiful acoustic guitar work, but picks up into an awesome plodding rock chorus, the guitars and gaps between the chorus adding so much. Meanwhile, another single, ‘4x4xU’ feels like it stepped straight out of the late 90s/early 2000s country scene. It has a similar style, tempo and structure as the former track, but damn, it feels completely different. That chorus is incredible, and the subtle organ in the back is amazing. It’s like a country-rock ballad, and is a fantastic love song. This album is really packed full of highlights!
We get a straight up Southern rock intro to ‘Ring Finger’ before it drops down into a subdued disco style. It reminds me a lot of the Cadillac Three’s Tabasco and Sweet Tea album, and I love it! Both parts/styles work surprisingly amazing together, and it’s something I was not expecting Lainey to come out with. However, fuck, it’s amazing. And then we go full country for the chorus, and it’s all I could ever want! This is another massive album highlight, and I really hope it gets the love it deserves, not being a single and all. It’s another track I wanna hear live, and I think they could do some really fun stuff with it. That whole outro bit goes HARD.
The closing track, ‘Whiskey Coloured Crayon’; a fitting country song title and a fitting closing song for the album. The slower-track-closing-the-album trope has grown on me over the years (or more my hatred of it has softened), and as far as that goes, this is one of the best. It’s an emotional end to an emotional album, and a beautiful track in its own right. The cute yet heartbreaking sentiment behind the track works perfectly, and gave me goosebumps by the end. I do think it could have build into something truly special by the end instead of fizzling out, but damn, what an ending!
Overall: this was just as good as I expected it to be! It definitely feels like it builds on her last album, it’s certainly a step up and is spurred on by her sudden mega-stardom. There truly isn’t a bad track on it, and I’ve ended up with a good over half of it on my playlist, at this point. The only very minor gripes I have are personal, and really don’t reflect ant issues with the album in any way. It’s certainly going to be up there in the discussion of album of the year when December rolls around, I’m sure. And I’mma be spinning this a lot over the next few months to prepare for that!
The Score: 9/10