The incredible Jordan Davis is set to release his brand new third album tomorrow, and there was no way we weren’t checking this out early! Despite being a fan of his work, I’ve somehow never managed to check out a full album from the guy, so I’m excited to really dive in and see what he’s about, especially when he’s currently at the height of his career. He’s certainly one of the most interesting current newer guys, blending plenty of styles into his own sound. Without further ado, let’s jump in!
‘Her Way or the Highway’ opens things up pretty chilled, immediately giving off Kip Moore vibes in the best ways! It’s definitely country but has that awesome soft/pop rock feel to it too. It all builds perfectly to a MASSIVE chorus too, just made to be played to huge festival crowds. The lyrics are typical country stuff but so well written, fitting the vibe of the song perfectly. We even get a nice little guitar lead tucked away in the middle, too! It’s a really good choice to open the album, keeping the energy pretty high and telling the listener exactly who Jordan is and what they’re in for on this release. An easy early highlight track!
‘Bar None’ follows on from the opener perfectly, having the same energy as before but definitely leaning more into the country side of the style. The acoustic guitar work throughout is phenomenal, as are the harmonies on Jordan’s vocals, somehow making them even more catchy! It’s another fantastic chorus, too. It reminds me a little of ‘Tipsy’, but a bit more Americana leaning instead of hip-hop. It’s a simple track but amazing, and another that easily makes it onto our playlist. Two for two so far on awesome songs!
Next up is a beautiful ballad/duet, ‘Mess with Missing You no More’. It’s a great country breakup song, filled with some amazing vocals and lyrics and some great acoustic work again. Also, Carly Pearce is amazing on this song, her voice complimenting Jordan’s perfectly. We get another great guitar solo here too, short but channels the energy of the song in a great way. It almost gives off Slash vibes, which is definitely a good thing! It’s exactly what you’d expect from a radio country ballad; it’s been done a lot recently, but it’s still a fantastic song nonetheless. Definitely up there alongside the greats who’ve done a song like this recently.
The more pop sound returns with ‘In Case You Missed It’, giving off big Parmalee vibes. Still, it has a bit of a rocking chorus, it again being massive and hugely catchy. The same could be said about ‘Ain’t Enough Road’, ‘Memory Don’t Mess Around’ and ‘Turn This Truck Around’. All are great songs that are impossible to not have fun listening to, even if the latter is a little more of a ballad than the others. It’s a great style that I feel a lot of people still associate with the genre heavily to this day, and one that Jordan does amazingly.
Then, you have the slower, more acoustic ballads like ‘Son of a Gun’, ‘Jesus Wouldn’t Do’, ‘Keeping The World Away’ and ‘Know You Like That’. Again, all of them are amazing, providing a completely different feel to the previously mentioned tracks, and plenty of emotion throughout. The former and the latter are my personal favourites and, while it’s maybe one too many slower songs, they’re all good, and it’s a long enough release that I think it gets away with it. They’re also spread out pretty perfectly, the whole thing having a great flow to it and not feeling its length at all.
Songs like ‘Learn the Hard Way’ are slower still, but lean more on the pop end than the country, I’d say. They’re simple arrangements and have more electronic beats and sounds than a more acoustic style. While it is a sound that’s been around a little while now, towards the end of the bro-country era, I found myself associating it more with Redferrin or even Morgan Wallen. ‘I Ain’t Sayin’’, ‘Only All The Time’ and to a lesser extent, the closing track (though that feels like a combination of this and the ballad) are all pretty similar tracks. I tend to be a bit on the fence with this sort of style, but I ended up loving all of these tracks!
‘Good Gone Bad’ is an all out Southern rock song, and I fucking LOVE it. From the riffing to the massive feel to the overall drip of swagger and attitude, it’s all awesome and another massive album highlight! I know it’s definitely right up my street, but at the same time I’d recommend this to absolutely anyone into country, as it’s an excellently written track. Plus, it breaks up the album pretty perfect, being different to everything else on it and slapped almost right in the middle. Great stuff!
The last song to check out is another feature, this one with the amazing Marcus King. It’s another rocky number packed with some awesome guitaring and easily one of the best choruses on the whole album. Once again, the pair mesh so well, with this feeling as much a Marcus track as a Jordan one. Putting something such high energy so late on in the album is a great idea, and once again breaks things up perfectly before the slower closer. I’m sure this will come as no shock at all, but I loved this, and it’s another that easily makes it onto our Spotify; another big highlight!
Overall: This is an awesome album! I didn’t quite know what to expect heading into it, what side of Jordan we’d get, but there is plenty of variety throughout and it’s all done perfectly. I had a blast listening through in its entirety, and it certainly won’t be the only time I do that over the next couple of months. A must for any country or really rock fan out there, and it firmly roots him as yet another major player in the country world.
The Score: 8.5/10