BMLG Records

***

There’s no doubt that Brett Young has found his comfort zone on this, his sixth album. The one-time promising baseball player, whose career was derailed by an elbow injury before he’d hardly got started, moved from his California home to Nashville in 2015. Almost immediately he struck gold in his music career, with his platinum-selling, Sleep Without You, after ten years of struggling as an independent artist. With a string of hit singles under his belt and a couple of previous successful albums for Big Machine, he has built a sizeable fan base for his easy-on-the-ear country-pop sound. He had a hand in co-writing all eight songs with Music Row tunesmiths and though the tools of the trade are the same belonging to so many others, in Brett’s capable hands, something familiar yet new is born. These are songs that sound at home upon first listen and this collection is an ample example of his range and what he can do.

A family man, there’s a theme of embracing fatherhood and relationship contentment in these mainly upbeat tunes, that are flush with positivity, so sunny they emit a joyful lustre and sheen. The title song provides a nice snapshot of his sound as he delightedly celebrates the change in his life from carefree weekends out with the lads to that life being turned upside by the arrival of a much-loved baby. Though the following song, Lady, is a heartfelt message to his then-expected daughter Presley, it is also a dedication of his love for his wife. A soft heartbeat leads into a gentle arrangement as he explains to the new baby that she needs to follow her mother’s example of how to live her life, because she is the perfect ‘lady’ that he idolises. There’s a rock vibe to the opening strident guitar of Not Yet, which settles into a more subdued sound as he joyfully embraces a new romance. The bright tune shines a light on living in the moment and taking full advantage of such a moment with the one who just might be ‘the one.’

The thump of You Got A Way With It, is an irresistible toe-tapper with sensual undertones as he invites this new girl to steal his heart away. The bluesy harmonica seems at odds to his smooth croon, but as the song builds momentum it adds much-needed grit to a song of unbridled passion. Though banjo notes set the scene for This, it’s not really country, just a feelgood song that is probably the finest example of where Brett Young is coming from as an artist. The hypnotic Dear Me has an unassuming sound, but it’s alluring to say the least with the standard current Nashville arrangement of rock-styled electric guitars with nary a hint of what used to be accepted as country. You Didn’t closes the album with an element of sadness and loss; a poignant and melancholy acceptance that his partner is not in love with him. It’s the only lyrically downbeat song here, but it’s hardly hard-edged country. In the main, these are rock-inflected pop-country tunes that go down easy if that’s how you like them. This album is everything we’ve come to expect from Brett Young and will suit his fans just perfectly.

www.brettyoungmusic.com

June 2021