The third album from the modern country superstar Dylan Scott is set for release tomorrow. The anticipation is high for it, and it’s no wonder! We checked out the re-release of Scott’s last album last year and didn’t mind it, though I certainly get why people love it so much. However, it seems like Scott is going for a different approach here. Even in the artwork alone, gone is the trucker cap and he’s more neatly trimmed, sporting a suit. It feels like an indication of a shift in style to me, and it’s potentially a needed one as his last album did feel a touch stale, in this writers honest (sorry) opinion. So, I’m very curious heading into this… let’s dive in!
‘What He’ll Never Have’ starts the album in exactly the kind of way you’d expect a country album to open these days. It’s a massive radio-country track if I’ve ever heard one, building through the simple verses into the massive, stadium-filling choruses. It’s very FGL-era of country, not that I’m complaining at all! Still, Dylan’s vocals are great and the lyrics, while typical country stuff, are well crafted. And instrumentally, it’s simple, but fits the track perfectly, doing exactly what it needs to do! It’s a song made to be played to huge festival crowds, and it’s a damn good way to open the album. An easily playlisted song!
The least country song title ever, ‘I Hate Whiskey’, carries on perfectly where the opener left off. It’s a slower, stripped-back, acoustic verse that builds up into a bigger sound for the catchy-as-anything chorus. It’s a more modern sound though, it not exploding into something massive but rather adding in the electric beats and subtle strings. It gives off more of a Redferrin or Russel Dickerson or even Morgan Wallen vibe to it than the previous song. However, the variety is nice, and shows that Dylan is still creating varied sounds over a decade into his career. And, while it’s not especially my sort of sound, I don’t mind the odd track of it now and again. It’s infectiously catchy, sure to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day, so it’s impossible not to like!
The title track is another highlight; a truly fantastic acoustic ballad. It’s simple but so very effective, the focus being on the guitar and Dylan’s great vocals and lyrics, and not a great deal else! It’s another really catchy song too, especially when the harmonies come in for the second and final choruses! The sound also builds more and more elements in as it goes, so by the end it’s an almost epic soundscape, giving off more Americana vibes than I was expecting. It’s a great song, and definitely a good choice to draw attention to by naming the album after it!
‘This Town’s Been Too Good to Us’ is a song that’s been lingering around for a while, much like the opener. Both were put out on the re-issue of Scott’s 2022 album, Livin’ My Best Life, last year, and have also made up 2/11 of this record. A touch cheep? Maybe. However, this is an absolutely phenomenal track that I just couldn’t escape from last year and didn’t really want to. That chorus is amazing, and one of the best Dylan’s ever put out. He also pushes his voice a little more on it than he does a lot of this album, having a touch of rasp to his usually radio-polished vocals, and it adds so much depth and emotion to it. I can’t gush over this song enough, and honestly haven’t heard it in a few months so it hit me even harder revisiting it for this release. If you are in any way a country fan, check this out immediately. It was already on last year’s playlist, or it would have gone on our current one!
Songs like ‘Twice’ and ‘Back Forty’ have a similar feel to them as the title track, being more slower, acoustic-based vibes. They’re definitely not bad tracks, with the former actually being yet another big favourite of mine from the album. However, it’s hard to talk about them here much without repeating myself over and over and coming across as a fangirl. If you’re into the slower, more emotional country songs, these are definitely worth checking out! They’re so good, in fact, that they don’t really feel like ‘album tracks’, and could easily be singles in their own right!
‘Country Till I Die’ brings in some much needed rock to the album, and it’s fucking awesome! The moment it opens it has that swaggering distorted guitar behind Dylan’s vocals, instantly giving the track an attitude that the album hasn’t had so far. The lyrics are a little cringy, don’t get me wrong, but in a fun way as opposed to wanting to turn it off. Heck, we even got some guitar soloing at times which, while brief, were great and fit the song perfectly. And, as wild as it sounds (to me too, don’t you worry), it’s another huge album highlight for me! The thing is packed full of them so far!
‘Smoke Follows Beauty’ has a slight Americana twang to it, maybe due to the higher pace. It’s a bit more like the opener in that it’s higher energy than much of the album, and is yet another song that I love and will have stuck in my head for days to come. Then you have stuff like ‘You’d Think I was a Cowboy’ that is more of that stripped-back modern sound again, and another catchy, stadium-filling ballad in ‘’Till I Can’t I Will’. Then closer ‘I Owe You One’ is a similar song to the previous, fittingly ending the album with a big, great radio-country song! Both of the final two songs are what I was expecting heading into the album, and they more than live up to my hype!
Overall: I came into this with slightly reserved expectations, and was absolutely blown away! The album is packed full of so many great songs, and has definitely made me a far bigger fan of Dylan coming out of it! There wasn’t at all a dull moment; there being plenty of variety and it all flowed perfectly. And it does feel slightly more… mature, I guess? It definitely has a different feel to it than his previous releases, and certainly in a good way. The whole thing went by in a flash, and I’ve listened to it all at least twice through while writing this. Even though we’ve heard half the album already too in singles, it felt fresh overall. In terms of the style of country that Scott has produced here, it may be a near-perfect album in that sound. If you’re a country fan at all, I’d highly recommend checking this out, there’s bound to be something on it you’ll love as much as I do!
The Score: 9/10