Big Machine Records

***1/2

I’m a little late to the party with this review of Kentucky-born Carly Pearce’s self-titled second album. She’s been hailed in some quarters as a champion of country music’s rich traditional legacy. Something of an Opry regular, she’s been embraced by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, who produced the successful Unbroken Circle: Exploring Country Music History with Carly Pearce. She openly proclaims that she grew up listening to ‘traditional’ country and bluegrass music and before she reached her teens she had embarked on a career as a country performer. With that kind of a background you would naturally expect this record to be full of down-home songs swamped in traditional country arrangements. That’s not the case though. What we have here is good-quality pop-country music that fits neatly into the current Music Row mould of light, catchy, infectious songs geared for mainstream radio play and mass consumption.

If you consider such past pop-country singers as Lynn Anderson (1970), Janie Fricke (1980), Lorrie Morgan (1990), Le-Ann Rimes (2000) and Carrie Underwood (2010) as country, then Carly Pearce surely must be regarded as the acceptable female face of country music in 2020. Clean, crisp production by the late busbee brings out the best in Carly’s powerful, beautiful voice and the gigantic pop-country arrangements. Many different colours of instruments are used to set the tone—banjo, mandolin, accordion, Dobro, ganjo, B-3 organ, piano, drums, percussion, synthesiser, programming, bass, acoustic, electric and lap steel guitar and a whole host of recording engineers, mixers and assistants— painting a lush musical landscape. Opener Closer To You starts things off promisingly, but soon develops into pop slickness despite the Dobro work of her long-time band member Josh Matheny during the short instrumental break. The infectious Call Me is an upbeat mix of pop polish and Nashville earnestness. There is more of an emotional edge to her vocals on I Hope You’re Happy Now, a remorseful duet with Lee Brice that is right in vogue with what tickles the ears of American radio programmers these days. Hubby Michael Ray joins her on Finish Your Sentences a catchy romantic duet that is pure ear candy, but little else. Damn! It works! For days since I just can’t get it out of my head.

The most ‘country-ish track is Dashboard Jesus, with a pseudo bluegrass arrangement, soaring harmonies and upbeat instrumentation that will leave your heart racing through the infectious melody. Yet the lyrics talk about a more sombre and difficult subject. The angst-filled Halfway Home pushes all the right emotional buttons with a dramatic arrangement that builds nicely. Heart’s Going Out Of Its Mind captures the ignition point of blissful, all-consuming infatuation with a banjo picking away to remind us that this is supposed to be a ‘country’ record. The piano ballad It Won’t Always Be Like This is a heartbreaking slice of introspection that neatly tempers the sunny disposition that tends to be a little overwhelming throughout the album. There’s a similar downbeat feel to Love Has No Heart, a churning beat of hopelessness endorsed by the weeping Dobro tones.

Depending on where you sit on the country music fence you might believe that Carly Pearce and her record label should be hauled up in front of trading standards for marketing this music as ‘country.’ I found it be nothing more or less than a pleasant listening experience. Though I prefer my country to be more ‘real’ and ‘authentic’ than this, there are, as they say, horses for courses. Smart lyrics coupled with exquisite music makes for an album that is pure brain-tickling ear candy. The music is not a wavering melange of assorted styles, but decided and compelling pop-country, so I’m not going to sit here and put a call in to the CMP (Country Music Police) any day soon.

www.carlypearce.com

February 2020