Before I go any further, I know this has nothing to do with anything, but you all may have noticed my lack of writing during the past week. Some things have happened to keep me from it, some of which are personal and have nothing whatsoever to do with CE and others which have affected CE directly. Regardless, there were several things I intended to write, reviews and otherwise, which didn’t get written for various reasons–life has that way about it. The reviews will come, the other stuff won’t because the time has passed to comment. Also, for all 7 of you lovely people who voted on Twitter, there will hopefully be a playlist for April coming eventually. Obviously none of that has anything to do with Maddie & Tae, but it felt like an update was warranted. And now, on to the first thing I’ve been excited to write about since I heard it earlier this week.
AS for Maddie & Tae, I’ve written so much about these ladies just in their short existence, and it simply makes me happy as a music fan to see them arrive with this lead single from their second album, and even more happy that it stays in their pop country lane so well. Yes, it’s more pop than most of what we’ve seen from them so far, but it’s still solidly pop country, and perhaps more importantly, still sounds like the duo. Their excellent harmonies are back, always a great addition to their songs, and the acoustic guitar and banjo can be heard in the mix, giving actual country flavor to the track, as you would expect from one of their songs. Their smart, clever songwriting is on full display here with the hook “we do, but friends don’t.” It’s describing all these unique, specific situations, like calling each other in the middle of the night just to chat and having conversations with only their eyes–all things that you don’t do if you’re just friends. The song lays out all these examples and then sells it with that hook, explaining that they can’t deny this chemistry between them any longer. That’s the thing about this–the songwriting is smart, but it’s also so relatable and something probably all of us have either experienced personally or have seen happening with our friends. Sometimes we can even see it in those around us easier than we can see it in ourselves. It’s a sentiment so many will understand, and portrayed cleverly by Maddie & Tae, at once specific to this couple and universal for the listener.
Solid single, looking forward to the album.
Written by: Maddie Marlow, Tae Dye, Justin Ebach, Jon Nite
Yes, Carrie Underwood has new music. I think we all knew that if we were living anywhere on the planet this week, so let’s get right to the point.
This song so blatantly flaunts established country radio convention that it becomes necessary to make a list of things it does to fly in the face of that institution.
it’s a mid-tempo ballad, not some upbeat summer anthem
it contains actual steel guitar
it features four female songwriters which must be some sort of unspoken crime in Nashville
it actually speaks to the female perspective instead of whatever “Female” thought it was doing
there’s actual emotion, but it’s nothing to do with love or anything else stereotypical
And yet, Carrie Underwood has the gall to release this to country radio–not only that, to choose to release it despite the pressure to release her Super Bowl anthem “The Champion” which featured Ludacris instead. That song, despite not being country in the slightest and not being very good in whatever genre it landed beyond its original purpose, probably would have done well in today’s radio environment. Yet she chose this decidedly country pop song and exercised leadership with that decision, more than we can say for many other mainstream country artists.
The song itself starts off with just Carrie and some very faint electric guitar, and credit to her for being very restrained at the beginning and slowly building throughout the song to reflect emotions getting out of hand and becoming uncontrollable. She’s singing about those times when our emotions get the best of us; we can fake it with a”pretty lie” or brush it off with a “pretty smile,” but it’s impossible to “cry pretty.” She asserts that crying is human and all part of being a person and a woman–it could be in response to the way she removed herself from the public to heal after injuring her face, but the details are vague. The vagueness is both a drawback to the song and a thing that will keep it more relatable to a wider audience. This is Carrie Underwood, famous singer, always in the spotlight, actually being vulnerable and making herself an equal with all of us. It’s why this song will work–it shows that she’s really not that different to any of us, and it will speak to people because of that.
And it will most likely get played on country radio as well because it’s Carrie Underwood we’re talking about, and she’s pretty much one of the only women guaranteed to have success in the format. Credit to her for taking advantage of that position and releasing this song, adding her name to the growing number of artists channeling good singles out into the mainstream.
Written by: Carrie Underwood, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey
Wow, it feels good to be able to sit down and positively review a Kelsea Ballerini single–and even more than that, to have something good to say about a song partly concocted by Shane McAnally. Kelsea had already showed significant growth and maturity on her second album, and I was hoping we’d see something like this released as a single. Hopefully, we’ll see it have the same kind of success as some of her previous stuff because maybe she’ll keep releasing substantive, if pop-flavored, material to country radio.
The thing about this that makes me think its success is highly possible is that while substantive, it’s still fun. It’s clever and witty, bringing a much-needed slice of humor to the genre similar to what we saw with Maddie & Tae’s “Shut up and Fish.” But whereas that song forsook the clingy guy altogether in favor of fishing, this one only casts off the tired, worn-out clichés associated with love. She still loves her man, but she’s sick of “cakes with white frosting” and “Valentine’s dinner” and notes that “you’d die if your heart really skipped.” He makes her feel something, but it “sure as hell ain’t butterflies,” and they were drunk when they met, so neither of them can remember their anniversary.
It’s all delivered with a laid-back lounge atmosphere that calls to mind vintage pop; yes, it’s definitely pop more than country, but it’s like a 50’s style more than anything modern. I can almost hear Whitney Rose doing something like this, only maybe less produced. The delivery is part of its charm, as she’s telling us all these lines in an offhanded, casual way, so you might not pick up on the jokes right away.
This is Kelsea Ballerini’s smartest, most mature single to date. The lyrics are sharp, and the delivery fits the song well. She’s also kept the fun personality which characterized her earlier singles, refining it into wit and humor rather than immaturity. This should be a hit, and I hope it will be because this is both the right direction for Ballerini and a move toward more quality in the mainstream.
Written by: Kelsea Ballerini, Shane McAnally, Trevor Rosen
Keith Urban seems hell-bent on removing all vestiges of dignity from his legacy by wasting his undeniable talent as a musician and songwriter on producing the laziest examples of shitty non-country music to grace our ears these past several years. And while I was not one who hated “Female” as vehemently as many, feeling that that did at least try to offer something meaningful and substantive, Urban’s complete forsaking of his signature guitar work in favor of electronic beats is without excuse. And now we have this new single, “Coming Home,” lacking in both sound and substance and proving to be one of Urban’s laziest efforts to date.
Yeah, we all know by now that Keith chose to rip off the classic riff to Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried,” which is its own form of country music blasphemy. It’s an honor I’m sure Merle is rolling over in his grave somewhere about having been bestowed. But at least they gave him credit. AT least they admitted they had no original thought here whatsoever, which is more than Thomas Rhett could say about his rip-off of “Chain Gang” commonly known as “Crash and Burn.”
But you know why they ripped off the Haggard riff? Because that’s literally the only memorable thing about this piece of shit. If not for that, none of us would be talking about it at all. It’s vapid and shallow lyrically, meant to be about coming home, but instead of taking you to a specific place with unique details like Scotty McCreery’s “Home in my Mind,” it opts for generic bullshit that ultimately says nothing. It mentions a place where people know you and repeats lines about a phone call from far away. It’s obviously trying to reach as broad an audience as possible and thus ultimately becomes disposable to everyone. Nothing here is imaginative, original, or creative. Keith Urban sounds bored and checked out vocally, and oh yeah, since the current trend is to feature a female pop star since that makes it look like country radio is achieving progress on the tomato front, we also have Julia Michaels for a brief appearance, sounding just as underwhelming. Add generic, electronic beats, a melody that’s forgettable and stale, and yeah, literally the only thing here that makes this song worthy of even a passing comment is the Merle Haggard riff. I guess this is genius marketing by Urban, elevating his completely forgettable, average song that’s not country and also not worth anything in the pop world, by adding a classic riff and therefore a story line.
This stuff is so disappointing from an artist like Keith Urban because he knows better. Instead of showing leadership in the genre, he’s selling out hard and ignoring his talents. Instead of letting go of his radio relevancy with grace, he’s sunk to the lowest points of his career. This song is an example of one of his laziest attempts to get a hit, and it just proves the lack of effort and talent it takes to get corporate country radio to play your single, and then to get all your gullible fans to buy this. Keith Urban fans should expect and demand more because Urban is capable of delivering it. And as for the Merle rip-off, it seems par for the course for an artist so determined to forsake any shred of original thought or creativity. But can we really blame him? When all your own ideas are shit, and your song is a shallow piece of crap that no one will remember 30 seconds from now, what choice do you have but to rip off the perfectly good, iconic idea of another?
The problem has never been modern country. The problem has never been country mixing with pop or rock. The problems lie in the total eradication of country by these genres to the point you can’t call something pop country anymore because it’s just straight pop slapped with a country label, and too often it’s shitty, generic pop music to add insult to injury. So many traditionalists and especially purists will never find anything to value in modern styles of country music, and that’s perfectly fine as it relates to personal taste. But not all contemporary country is bad, and that’s why it’s so refreshing to see this being done right.
Enter Canadian country artist Meghan Patrick and her new album, Country Music Made me do It. Strict traditionalists, you probably aren’t going to find much to enjoy here–it’s not an album loaded with fiddle and steel by any means. But except for very small instances like on Maddie & Tae’s debut album, the instrumentation is organic, and more importantly, these are good slices of songwriting, enhanced by a great vocalist and by melodies that resonate, two things that are unfortunately too hard to come by at times in the independent scenes.
Even though it’s definitely modern, nailing down the specific sound of this album is a bit tricky. Sometimes, Meghan Patrick blends country and rock, like on the album highlight, “Walls Come Down,” a catchy as all hell tune that details the lives of a family whose secrets are laid bare when both parents have affairs. The sister has her own demons as a result, and as Patrick sings, “sometimes love just ain’t enough to keep the devil out of that picture-perfect house.” In a just world, this would be a 2018 radio hit. Another good country rocker is the defiant “Hardest on my Heart,” wherein Meghan details damaging her liver and her reputation, among other things. There are a lot of songs that detail stuff like this, being a badass and a rebel, to the point they can be a little cliché, but this one works because she acknowledges that her reckless behavior has been harder on herself than anyone. She’s not just proud of breaking hearts and being a strong woman; rather, she’s admitting the toll it takes on her as well as others. And of course there’s the excellent title track and opener, an autobiographical tale of her passion to follow country music.
Other songs could be classified more as pop country. “Bad Guy” and “Small Town” are the two strongest examples of this style, together creating a story in the heart of the album that details the end of a relationship. She has been the one to leave, and the whole town is talking about her, but it seems there is more to this story, and even though it was technically her who left, she didn’t do it without her reasons. Now it seems that the man, especially on “Bad Guy,” is trying to paint her as well, the bad guy, when there are actually two sides to the story. “Small Town” is the continuation, as she’s leaving behind a town that once felt like home to her because she’s sick of hearing the people talking about her behind her back and exchanging half-truths. Both songs indicate that she hasn’t totally moved on herself despite being the one to end it, and together, they create a great moment.
But she’s not always leaving behind relationships and breaking hearts. “George Strait” is a pretty worrisome title, but it’s a surprisingly well-framed love song with actual clever references to Strait songs, so that it becomes more than just a name-drop of the singer. “Case of Beer and a Bed” is one of the best songs here lyrically, as she sings of a couple whose best moments came when they could afford little, and all they needed was each other. Now they are caught up in trying to have more; this song is a reminder that the best things in life are often free, and as Meghan says, “life has a way of complicating love.” This one, though certainly modern, is also one of the most country. “The Way You Apologize” also sees Patrick in a rare vulnerable moment; here, she’s pretty sure the man she’s with is lying to her, but she can’t quite get over him enough to leave him. Not necessarily the best thing on the record, but it serves a nice purpose of showing another side to Meghan Patrick besides the heartbreaker portrayed throughout much of this album.
The only time the style becomes a little too pop is on the small town anthem “WE Got it All.” The lyrics are strong, a noteworthy fact because this had the opportunity to be one giant cliché, and the songwriting saved it from that. It’s just not great sonically. “Underrated” is also just kind of weird–it’s a strange hook to call your lover underrated, and it also has a bit of that East Nashville vibe that’s been done to death and which also doesn’t really suit the otherwise excellent, strong vocals of Meghan Patrick. “Feel me Gone” is easily the best vocal performance here, but the lyrics do fall slightly short, as the narrator is going to the bar alone because her man needs to “feel me gone” and lie awake by himself. She makes it clear that she’s not going to cross the line and just wants him to feel like she’s leaving, but it’s too vague about why he deserves this. Is he not appreciating her at home? Has he cheated on her or left her alone at night wondering, so that she wants him to feel the same way? The vocals here really are outstanding, so this is a minor problem, but having said that, if the lyrics were developed a little more here, this song could have been a standout of the whole record.
But the flaws on this album are minimal, and this is the first truly exciting discovery of 2018 for me. Not the album to buy if you want fiddle and steel, but if you like modern country, you’ll find a lot to enjoy. The melodies are catchy, and the songwriting holds up quite well. IN an ideal world, this is what mainstream country in 2018 would sound like. A great example of contemporary country done right.
