The lack of success The Shires have had during their short
history frustrates me. No, that might seem like quite an odd statement to make,
they are the biggest selling UK country act of all time after all. But that's
not my problem. What I find particularly frustrating is the lack of pop
crossover success that, at this point, they undoubtedly deserve. With the right
marketing, I'm convinced that 'Beats To Your Rhythm' or 'My Universe' could
have crossed over to pop radio.
However, with the lead single 'Guilty', it looked like their new
album 'Accidentally On Purpose' was going to get that pop crossover treatment.
This would have been good news, but the song was just not very good, even if
both Ben Earle and Chrissie Rhodes are both great, charismatic performers.
This did slightly dampen my expectations going into this third
full length studio album, but this is The Shires we're dealing with, if anyone
can make this mainstream pop country sound work well, it would be them. So,
what did I find on 'Accidentally On Purpose'?
Honestly, very little of note. 'Accidentally On Purpose' is the
kind of album that I had high expectations for, but ended up falling completely
flat for me for a reason that so much easier to explain than it should be. If
anything, 'Accidentally On Purpose' just makes me think of the album that could
have been, and that smoothly takes us onto the one consistent element of this
entire album, our performers. Over the course of their previous two albums,
both Ben Earle and Chrissie Rhodes proved incredibly charismatic and powerful
vocalists when they've been given interesting material to work with, and it's
certainly the case here. Although, sometimes the vocal arrangements and
melodies don't give either vocalist the room to be as expressive as they could
be. 'Guilty' is a prime example with a hook that does the complete opposite of
flexing the huge vocal ranges our performers have that could be used in order
to sell the good time party vibe that the song is going for. The song 'Echo'
isn't much better in that regard, but, generally, I enjoy the performances on
this album. The more subtle deliveries on 'Loving You Too Long' and
'Accidentally On Purpose', and the more intense presence behind the subtle
gallop on the hook of 'Ahead Of The Storm' being standouts.
The production is more of a mixed bag. I’ll say this: this is a
pop album with some country flourishes rather than the other way around. While I
was not immediately put off on this album based on that fact alone, the thin
and frail touches to so many of the songs here is a little off putting. The
whining electronic effects on the intro of ‘Guilty’, the clumsy and very dry
feel of ‘Echo’, and then there’s just a bunch of songs that do very little for
me. ‘World Without You’ and ‘Speechless’ in particular leave me colder than
they really should do, and on a pop country album like this, that’s that last
thing you want.
That doesn’t mean to say it’s all bad. There is a soothing feel
to how the guitar melody is mixed on ‘Sleepwalk’ that I did like, as well as
the richer country touches that anchor the pretty damn good hooks on ‘The Hard
Way’, ‘Accidentally On Purpose’, and the booming chorus on ‘Stay The Night’
that I kind of loved, even if the percussion generally feels thinner than it
needs to be.
The bigger problem with ‘Accidentally On Purpose’ is the complete
lack of any remotely interesting or new ideas in the song writing department.
The problem is simple: there’s just not a lot of dramatic stakes to a lot of
these songs. Without stakes, there’s just not a lot of pathos in these songs,
however much Earle and Rhodes try to sell them. Take ‘Other Peoples Things’
from ‘My Universe’. There was something gripping and somewhat upsetting about
the idea of everything you’ve ever owned stacked up in boxes for you to dig
through and fin wonders you never knew you had, whilst anyone else would simple
dismiss it, not seeing the beauty in it like you do. In other words, there was
a true, deep, and undisputed pathos to that. This album on the other hand is
rarely as adventurous. ‘The Hard Way’ plays the cliché of ‘you never really
know what you’ve got / when you know it’s not coming back’, while both ‘Echo’
and ‘Guilty’ are mindless party tracks, with the latter track trying to justify
itself through this vague idea of it being a crime to have fun: ‘If it’s a
crime to have a good time then I’m guilty’.
The love songs like ‘Strangers’, ‘River Of Love’ and ‘World
Without You’ don’t offer anything close to The Shires’ best love songs like ‘Black
And White’ or ‘Naked’ from ‘My Universe’, and feel ultimately inessential,
despite the latter track having an amazing hook
It’s the final song, ‘Loving You Too Long’ that connected with
me most. I love songs about how time deteriorates relationships, but the best of
these songs (‘Flagship’ by Jason Isbell) tend to come from an outside
perspective looking in, but instead, The Shires take a complex role in a
relationship that has gone on for longer than either partner could have
possibly expected. In other words, the complete opposite of a song like ‘Flagship’
by Jason Isbell. It’s masterfully pulled off.
But otherwise, I can acknowledge that there is a time and a
place for this kind of music, and it’s getting a light 3/5 from me as a result
as well as a tentative recommendation, but listen to ‘My Universe’ and brave
first. Only if you’re interested coming out of those two albums, check this
out.
Rating: 3/5
Best Songs: ‘Loving You Too Long’, ‘Ahead Of The Storm’, ‘World
Without You’
Worst Songs: ‘Echo’
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