23 tracks. 23 TRACKS. Strap in guys and girls, let’s do this.
Modern country legend Kip Moore is back with his sixth studio album, and my gosh is it a big one. I remember checking out his last release, 2023’s Damn Love, and looking back on it I was shocked I didn’t like it too much. That album has certainly grown on me since and I’ve always been a fan of Moore, so when this came over my desk I knew I had to dive in head first and check it out! It’s a big undertaking, but everything Kip has said about it has gotten me hyped, so I can’t wait to hear it!
‘High Hopes’ starts things perfectly, setting the country-Americana-rock vibe amazingly well. A great acoustic guitar riff starts, Kip’s powerful, amazing vocals soon coming in over the top. It builds excellently through the opening chorus too, almost giving off vibes of Drew Holocomb or even Shane Smith. It’s catchy as anything, too! I absolutely ADORE the drumming in the second chorus too, adding some pace and rock and energy to it in all the best ways. The whole song is awesome though and put together so well. It’s definitely a highlight and certainly makes it onto our playlist. What a way to open the album!
The albums title track is up next, and slows the pace down a little. it does still have the same folky-Americana feel to it, though. It’s a beautiful, lower energy song that highlights Kip’s strengths of lyric writing and the versatility of his voice. And it still builds to a huge, stadium-filling chorus! It’s another amazing song, and definitely a good choice to name the album after. If you’re into Kip or any of the genres or artists I’ve mentioned already, I’d definitely recommend checking this out!
‘Pretty Horses’ and ‘Livin’ Side’ keep the slower, folkier vibes going through the middle of the first side. Both are beautiful, good songs, but this release is massive so I can’t go in depth about every single track, or you’ll see the length of the article and click off again! They’re both worth a listen, and fit perfectly in the context and flow of the album! The strings in particular in the former are amazing.
The first (and most recent) single on the album, ‘Around You’, is a beautiful song that feels as much soft rock as it does country/Americana. It builds perfectly through the simple, folky verse into a massive chorus. It still stays pretty stripped back, but Kip’s powerful vocals really step it up a notch and sound awesome! The lyrics are also fantastic, and his vocal delivery as a whole of them is amazing, giving off slight Bryan Adam’s vibes in the best ways. We even get an awesome, vert fitting little guitar solo in the middle. It’s an amazing Americana-rock song and a very good choice for a single. It’s easily a highlight of the album!
Starting off Side-B, ‘Bad Spot’ is a very stripped-back ballad track, focusing mainly on Kip’s raspy vocals, the simple drums and acoustic guitar. It’s also another incredibly catchy chorus, fitting the tone of the track and album as a whole perfectly. It’s an awesome, emotion-filled breakup track, and another huge highlight of an album so far filled with them!
‘Rivers Don’t Run’ gives off big Police vibes, combined perfectly with Bryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen. It’s the least country and most soft rock track so far, and is another awesome song! It’s infectiously catchy and at least a little different feeling in tone to the rest of the album so far, breaking it up nicely. It’s a fun song, and yet another personal highlight.
Single ‘Like Ya Stole It’ is another beautiful ballad track, clearly dedicated to his father. It’s packed full of emotion and certainly brought a smile to my face! It was at this point that I was starting to feel the length of the album a touch (already, I know), but the track is so good it’s impossible not to love. And honestly, they’re pretty good lyrics to live by! It’s a fun, slow country song, and definitely worth checking out!
‘Southern Song’ is another beautiful, heartfelt track that is so well written that I can’t not love it, no matter how many times I listen to it. His vocals are maybe at their peak on this song, as is his amazing lyric writing. It’s a simple track yet hugely effective, and another song that I’m a little obsessed with. It’s one that will easily make it onto our Spotify alongside a lot of others on this record!
‘Learning as I Go’ was another fantastic choice for a single, and starts off side C incredibly strongly. It has a bit more of a powerful rock edge to it again, and that chorus is absolutely phenomenal. And again, that may in large part be down to his amazing vocals and delivery throughout. And the simple yet incredibly effective guitar solo in the middle is also amazing. It’s a tall tale, but it may be my favourite track on the album. I may change my mind on another listen, but for now it’s very much a frontrunner. It takes the best parts of Adams, Shane Smith and his own stuff, rolling it together into this incredible package.
Out of nowhere, we get a blues rock song in ‘Alley Cat’. It was much more in line with what I was expecting from this record, and is a more than welcome addition to it! It’s still pretty simply crafted, but has that real old-school blues/soul feel to it, making it a lot of fun to listen to. And that chorus with the subtle harmonies… *chef’s kiss*. It’s the shot in the aim this album needed at this stage, and was performed and written amazingly. It also felt like a shift in the tone of the album, as ‘Live Her to Work’ is also another up-beat country-blues-rock track. It’s crazy fun, and the lyrics are amazing, surely relatable to just about everyone these days. Both are huge highlights but the latter I think is slightly stronger, probably because it’s slightly more relatable to me! Amazing stuff!
The rock vibes continue on through the awesome, Springsteen-y ‘Love & War’ before we get an acoustic country return with ‘Flowers in December’. The side C concludes with a beautiful, slower folk ballad in ‘Forever is a Lie’. Meanwhile, the final side continues along the same vein as the earlier stuff. ‘Tough Enough’ is another big highlight, the chorus being incredible and the lyrics again being awesome. Also the higher energy, funk-rock ‘Good Things Never Last’ is yet another great song! It almost has Quo vibes to it, which was amazing. And ‘Only Me’ finishes the album off in style with another soft country-rock, almost U2-like anthem.
Overall: I know I ended up rushing through those last handful of tracks, but that shouldn’t be a reflection of the quality of the album at all. For a 23-track long album to hold my attention this well and keep me guessing on what comes next is no easy feat, and for it to have so many bangers on it too is nothing short of incredible. It feels like it builds on his last couple of albums perfectly, honestly more of a bit of a culmination of his sounds up to this point. Moore hit the nail on the head when he said that he wants to feel authentic to himself, as this feels like it took his heart and soul to write and release, and the journey it takes you on is really incredible. Not every song is my favourite, but as a whole they all work perfectly and, though it’s long, I’d recommend checking it out in full at least once.
The Score: 9/10