Review of: 'Living Proof' by State Champs

RIP All Time Low 2004 - 2017. Luckily, we have State Champs to carry the pop rock torch. The first real sign of this to a lot of people was their debut, 'The Finer Things', but I was much more sold by their sophomore effort titled 'Around The World And Back'. This new album is one of my most anticipated of the year, and, on that note, how is the album.

If you couldn't tell already, this is going to be a review of the shorter variety, not because the album is bad by any means, there's just not a lot to say. Basically, if you liked 'Around The World And Back', you'll unquestionably like this. State Champs make another rock tinged pop album that mostly delivers. Not a lot has changed, the hooks are quite excellent even though very few end up sticking with you. They also have a tendency to fall together occasionally and lacking in distinctive flare. This leads into my first key criticism of this album, a lot of the time, any instrumental intricacies that could have otherwise came though are sacrificed in favour of huge guitar riffs and, while they might sound fine, they often swamp out any cohesive melody, and that's a shame.

Of course, it's not always a problem. The production gives the melody some room to breath in the opening in some of these songs, 'Our Time To Go' bring the standout, and 'Safe Haven' works fine too, I like a lot of the tonal choices on that song despite the main melody being completely buried on the hook. It gets significantly worse on 'Mine Is Gold', a generic, blocky, staccato stomping punk song lacking in edge, as well as a clumsily handled instrumental shift when transitioning into and out of the chorus.

Although, if it's edge your looking for, this album may not be for you. You get two punk songs ('Criminal', 'Dead And Gone'), nine huge, heavy pop songs, and 'Time Machine' and 'The Fix Up' the two token slow songs that sound utterly tired, a total contrast to the rest of the album despite the latter trying to build to some kind of crescendo in its final moments.

It is worth saying that these criticisms are minor, and the album is able to hit a stride with a few good to great songs. I've briefly touched on how 'Criminal' and 'Dead And Gone' nail the pop punk balance, but I'll also credit the huge hooks that pummel through on 'Our Time To Go', 'Cut Through The Static' and 'Safe Haven', even though I would personally wish for more instrumental layers.

And that really is the huge overarching problem with 'Living Proof'. The hooks are great, but lacking in deeper intricate layers that All Time Low mastered when they were in their prime. A good album, without a doubt, but also one that had the potential to be amazing. I expect a lot of people to brush this album off as a pop punk band slowly tipping towards pop, but there is something more to it, not a lot, but there is something more. It gets a light 3.5 / 5.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Best Songs: 'Our Time To Go', 'Cut Through The Static', 'Safe Haven', 'Dead And Gone'

Worst Songs: 'Mine Is Gold', 'Time Machine'

Review of: 'Shawn Mendes' by Shawn Mendes

Review of: 'Shawn Mendes' by Shawn Mendes

Not going to lie, I was really dreading this album. Shawn Mendes may have had a somewhat promising start to his career with his debut album 'Handwritten', but ever  since then, things have gone downhill hard. 'Treat You Better' made my list of the worst hit songs of 2016, and I stand by it. On top of that, 'Illuminate' was a pretty bad album. It lacked instrumental flavour, had numerous writing issues that lacked the appropriate framing to make them work. To restate what I said at the beginning of the review, I was dreading this. So, how was this?

Well, this was an interesting experience, and it for the reason you might think. The weird thing about 'Shawn Mendes' is that it's actually kind of close to being almost decent. Almost. Make no mistake, 'Shawn Mendes' is a pretty dry album, particularly instrumentally where, just like 'Illuminate' before it, it suffers from a lot of the same issues, but, this time around, it seems that Mendes and his co-writers seem to have gotten an idea of how to frame the relationships that were on display on 'Illuminate' and are on this album too. Either by simplifying the framing to the extreme, or by adding unique that flesh out these songs and make them work.

If anything, the most consistent issue with this album is the production. Muted melodies that are too simple to be memorable plague this album, nothing new really. The opening track 'In My Blood' initially seems to fall into this category, but the track actually ends up building some momentum. The biggest culprit is probably 'Like To Be You' with Mendes singing opposite Julia Michaels. Not only does Michaels sound awful on that track - there's no getting around that her whining mumbly vocal tone does not sound good - but the flavourless plucky instrumental does nothing all that interesting. 'Why', 'Falling All In You' and the weirdly cluttered 'Queen' fall into similar territory, but the stripped back guitar pickup and Mendes in his most confident vocal range plus gorgeous multi tracking on 'Because I Had You' does actually work for me.

Furthermore, while the combining of the slicker, funkier instruments mentation with the acoustic guitar (which ends up getting swallowed in the mix anyway) on 'Lost In Japan' is a tad clumsy, the song does have some charm to it that I can't deny. 'Particular Taste' tries to be the same, but the awkward squeaking melody on the hook blows any 'Youth' might be the best song on this album for having some unique, dark smoulder that Khalid's textured delivery complements exceptionally well. However much Mendes' slightly thinner delivery, but he still sounds really good and I still like the song.

And on that pleasant note, let's discuss the element of the album that I've seen most improvement in, the writing and framing. Needless to say, it's not always great, it is a Shawn Mendes album after all. For instance, in 'Like To Be You' the writing shows the couple as unwilling to fully communicate with each other or get to the bottom of what sparked they're argument, instead they'd just rather brush it off. 'In My Blood' is easily the worst written track on the album as Mendes reflects on the challenges of life (obviously he is not specific as to what the challenge is) and contemplates the possibility of 'giving up' but instead of engaging with his problems or acknowledging the consequences that could surface if he were to give up, he instead defaults to insisting that giving up is simply not 'in his blood' with the huge melodrama of the instrumentation sounding okay, but only in isolation.

I would argue that these moments are not are not representative of the whole album, though. This saves this album from being bad, and might show some hope and promise for Shawn Mendes down the road. 'Where are You In The Morning' may initially appear pretty unimpressive, and, really, it is, but the framing is quite interesting. Instead of anger that this girl just left after one night despite making it clear that she wanted to stay longer, it's more confused reflection. Mendes playing the bemused, exploited young man works very well. It comes up again on 'Perfectly Wrong', a significantly worse song where Mendes knows the relationship is dying, but can't end it, despite the girl saying that he hates him purely because of the sex he gets, yet the instrumentation frames Mendes as completely helpless. 'Because I Had You' is a much better song. It starts with the line 'I think it's time that I be honest / I should have told you not to go', which may imply that he is trying to win an ex back who left out of his own doing, but this is actually not the case. Instead, Mendes is, with the acknowledgement that it is going to be hard, is going to move on. He still has regrets, but he's trying hard to overcome them.

The album ends white a song that particularly caught my attention. The track is 'When You're Ready', the song where Mendes insists to the girl that if it doesn't work out for her after the breakup, he'll be there if she wants. 'Happier' by Ed Sheeran may be the easy comparison, but on that song, Sheeran insisted that he would be the 'knight in shining armour' ready to save this girl when it doesn't work out, Mendes is more reserved. He simply promises that he'll be around if it doesn't work out, even if he does flirt with melodrama on the line 'And if I have to I'll wait forever'.

But overall, I don't believe I'm saying this, but it's a 2.5 / 5. The fact that this album almost worked for me says a lot.

Overall Rating: 2.5 / 5

Best Songs: 'Youth', 'Because I Had You', 'Lost In Japan'

Worst Songs: 'In My Blood', 'Particular Taste' 

Review of: ‘Love Is Dead’ by Chvrches

Chvrches are a band that’s a bit hard to place. A Scottish trio that seemed begging for mainstream attention off the back of a great sophomore album ‘Every Open Eye’, that never seemed to truly materialise, and I have genuinely no idea why. They had the hooks, they had the glamorous pop crossover appeal, they had a great front women in the form of Lauren Mayberry, but for whatever reason, any attempt at pop crossover has been unsuccessful, including in the run up to this third studio album, 'Love Is Dead'.

My personal frustrations aside, I was expecting big things from this album, after all, 'Every Open Eye' was a great cohesive sugary slice of synth pop that never fails to amaze me every time. My concerns started to arise when the news came through that pop producer Greg Kurstin was hopping on board for this project, bringing with him his bad reputation for compromising melody in favour of stiff, programmed drum beats that may have a lot of momentum, if nothing beyond it. As such, my expectations were skewed going into 'Love Is Dead', but what did we get?

We got a measurable step back, that's for sure. Compared to 'Every Open Eye', this album is overlong, and both inconsistently produced and written. And, while I would love to just be able to blame Greg Kurstin for this and just move on, I can' tin good conscience do that. Nevertheless, numerous issues heavily compromise an album that had the potential to be great, but instead is merely decent. If that.

The production on this album is the first key issue. To sum it up in one word: exhausting. This album is tiring to get through and, unfortunately, that's more on the group themselves than Kurstin. The problem is, while a lot of these songs have plenty of melodic foundation, but not a lot rising above it. 'Miracle' is a good example. I don't mind the intense build up, but in the hook it breaks into this stiff, lumbering progression with hardly any driving melody outside of the vocal line which is covered in fuzzy vocal filters when it does not need to be. The fact that these production issues mostly turn up on songs the band themselves produced baffles me.

'My Enemy' is a tuneless, dreary bore of a track that features both Matt Berninger of The National and Lauren Mayberry on total autopilot white both of them sounding they'd rather be anywhere else. 'Wonderland' has some pretty instrumental moments on the verses, but, just like on 'Miracle' completely breaks down on the hook. But if there's a song that encapsulates everything I dislike about this album, it's 'God's Plan'. The kind of swampy track that is clearly trying to build up some intense swell, but without any consistent pulse or cohesive melody to pull it off. There is melody, but not where it needs to be in the mix to fully connect.

When some of the brighter melodic elements do shine through, we do get a few good songs. The production seems to get halfway there on the opening three songs, but 'Forever' is the first indication to me that something could have been salvaged from this album. While the purchasing is a tad too heavy, the hook and the high tempo the song has manages to work for me and I like the song. Similar reason why 'Graves', 'Heaven/Hell' and 'Never Say Die' mostly work for me too, despite the latter feeling a tad underwritten.

And that takes us nicely onto the lyrics and themes of this album, and in comparison to 'Every Open Eye', this is a mess. The breakup seems to happen on 'Get Out' and is framed as a mutual departure, 'good intentions never good enough', and on the rest of the album, Mayberry tries to make it work out again, and, surprising no one, the guy turns out to be a manipulative asshole and Mayberry is left alone on 'Really Gone' just as she was left alone on 'Afterglow' on 'Every Open Eye'. This is the same story told through a slightly different lens and very little else. Lines like 'ask me no questions, I will tell you no lies' from 'Miracle' don't frame Mayberry all that well and doesn't make the way she is handling the situation all that likeable.

However, there are elements of the thematic arc that do connect. The regretting of the post breakup madness on 'Forever', the desire to make something out of a bad situation that comes across on 'Never Say Die', and especially the song 'Heaven/Hell' as Mayberry isn't sure if the fact that this relationship is sputtering out is good or not, but she's just going to enjoy wallowing in its final moments anyway.

But overall, you'll be infinitely better off listening to 'Every Open Eye' and getting the same thematic arc told measurably better. Light 3 / 5 from me.

Overall Rating: 3 / 5

Best Songs: 'Heaven/Hell', 'Forever, 'Graves', 'Never Say Die'

Worst Songs: 'My Enemy', 'God's Plan'

Review of: 'Be More Kind' by Frank Turner

If I was going to rank my favourite songwriters, Frank Turner would be in the top thee (along with Jason Isbell and Kacey Musgraves). Albums like 2009's critically acclaimed 'Love Ire And Song', and 2013's 'Tape Deck Heart' are amazing, deeply personal albums, and 'To Take You Home' and 'Jet Lag' are incredible songs. While his talent is undeniable, none of his albums have exceeded 'Love Ire And Song' in terms of quality, and it didn't look like Turner was interested in pursuing more in that kind of direction in this new album, I was unsure how this was going to turn out. Was it as good as I hoped?

Well, not quite. In short, 'Be More Kind' by Frank Turner is a blunt, thematically incoherent album with enough flashes of brilliance that push it into good territory. The kind of album that attempts to comment on a world that is falling apart, without having any idea how such an event can be overcame. Nowhere close to his best, but a decent, if inconsistent album. In order to explain why this is, the best place to start is the production which mostly clicks for me when the guitars are given more attention to detail in the mix. This is one of the reasons why the simple, yet effective melody on 'Blackout' mostly worked. The roaring punk presence of '1933', the elegant subtlety of 'Be More Kind' and especially 'Lifeboat', as well as the mister hooks on 'Brave Face' and the album standout '21st Century Survival Blues' are all moments that show Frank Turner still has great instincts when it comes to production, but why he does not exercise them across the entirety of the album baffles me.

A huge problem is that a lot of these songs sound so tired. While some of this might be intentional like on 'Going Nowhere', it does not make for a pleasant listening experience. 'Don't Worry' suffers from a similar problem. The album is lacking consistent tight, focused grooves. On that note, sometimes the guitars are pushed into a watery slurry where you can barely hear a cohesive groove like on 'Make America Great Again' with awful vocal production to boot. This almost feels like a cheaper album than his previous efforts, and on no track is this more apparent than 'Little Changes', which might be one of thinnest, most frail song that Turner has ever been associated with.

But, most of my issues with the production could be forgiven if the writing holds up, but once again, we get a mixed bag. Overall, I like the concept that this album tries to explore in an ever crumbling world, but the way that the album presents the issue is a problem. It starts on the very first track where Turner insists to us 'don't worry if you don't know what to do' because he has no idea what he's doing either: 'no one has a clue'. It almost shows an unwillingness to fully engage in the issue at hand. '1933' might be a better song, but suggesting that you're just going to go to the bar and drink away your problems while the world is falling apart does not have a lot of pathos.

'Make America Great Again' tries to be the anthemic political singalong track, but ends up failing by being less focused on how America can pull itself out of the political crisis they're in, and more focused on Turner's experience in America. Even the standout '21st Century Survival Blues' suggests a willingness to just hide away from problems, and it's fine if you're doing it with someone you love (which completely conflicts with the tone and message of the song two songs before, 'Brave Face', but it's not like this album is keen on consistency anyway).

However, where the album starts to get really quite infuriating is on 'Blackout' where Turner sings 'we should be asking ourself uneasy questions', seemingly without realising the difference between asking questions, and fully engaging in potential answers to those questions.

Look, on some level I am being harsh on this album, but that was because I expected it to be great. It gets an extremely light 3.5 / 5 from me.

Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5

Best Songs: '21st Century Survival Blues', 'Lifeboat', 'Brave Face', 'Be More Kind'

Worst Songs: 'Make America Great Again', 'Little Changes' 

Review of: 'Speak Your Mind' by Anne-Marie

In a world where female pop stars seem to be coming and going like crazy, including Dua Lipa, RAYE, Mabel, and now, singer Anne-Marie trading the spotlight. This debut album has been long awaited and long overdue, and has been in the making for some time, but, off the bat of a surprisingly good run of singles ('Alarm', 'Ciao Adios', 'Then') I became curious about how this album was going to turn out in the end.

There's no denying that Anne-Marie stand out from the crowd, sporting a significantly more intense and somewhat understated vocal delivery that you don't often get in pop,  but also has demonstrated that she has pipes that could work against more rock instrumentation, possibly filling the role that P!nk left behind and that Demi Lovato failed to fill.

As such, I was willing to give this album a fair chance, even if I was virtually certain the the producers would not allow her to push more in that rock direction. But, even with that, how's 'Speak Your Mind'?

Honestly, it's a mess. The kind of album with insane highs, but horrendous lows that level out into something that's pleasant, but the furthest thing from cohesive or tonally consistent. But it's not like I could have expected anything less given the number of producers and co-writers that have their names attached to this project. Overall, this album pulls every pop trick in the book, and, as a whole, falls flat.

But to get into why this is, the best place to start is Anne-Marie's vocals, and, I get it, her vocal tone isn't for everyone and how much you like the overstated, blaring vocal tone that she uses a fair amount on this album could be a defining factor as to whether or not you enjoy this album. For me, I mostly enjoy it. At its worse, it's just a bit thin like the breathy falsetto she tries on 'Breathing Fire', although the pre chorus on 'Used To Love You' pushes me to my absolute limit of what I can tolerate; it's quite obnoxious.

Speaking of obnoxious, the production and songwriting across these seventeen tracks are, as I've previously said, a total mess. It all starts off on 'Cry' where the mix feels so cluttered and lacking in depth. Songs like 'Then' and 'Some People' have the opposite problem where the production feels so dour and completely clashes with the tone of the rest of the album. In the former case, that can kind of work in trying to convince that ex to just move on with their life.

A song that this concept does not work with, however, is 'Machine', a song where Anne-Marie confronts the idea of being a machine and how it would be better for her as she would be less affected by the bad things that happen in the world that get broadcasted on the news. Only problem with this is that it completely ignores the fact that that humanity that Anne-Marie speaks about in the song as if it is something holding her back, is what makes life worth living in the first place. 'Perfect' is another example. A song about acknowledging ones imperfections that includes the line 'are you impressed with my honesty?'. 

But that isn't even the album at its worse. That would be the relationship songs like the Julia Michaels co-written song 'Trigger'. The relationship is falling apart, but instead of allowing the relationship to meet its natural conclusion, Anne-Marie insists that 'that won't fix it any quicker', and says 'do you really wanna hurt me?'. It somehow gets worse on 'Bad Girlfriend' where she admits to everything she has done wrong in this relationship, but instead of owning her mistakes and improve herself, she so plainly shows no regard for the feelings of the guy in the relationship.

Although, it's not like the guys in the relationships that Anne-Marie sings about are much better. 'Ciao Adios' is the kind of straight forward break up track where she knows the guy is cheating and just removes herself from that situation, a song I mostly like thanks to a strong guitar lead and memorable, sticky hook. Similar case on 'Alarm'. While I'm not the biggest fan of the sandy staccato synth that opens the song, the pre chorus builds some proper intense swell of the deep piano that I really liked.

With that, it's important that I now acknowledge the moments on this album that I really like. 'Can I Get Your Number' is a simply framed song where Anne-Marie is trying go build up the courage to ask to hook up with this guy in amongst the chaos of wounding if it's truly love. It's kind of cliché, but upbeat and catchy production made up of glassy touches and horn like synths can make up for a lot.

I've already talked about how I think the dark intensity of 'Then' really works, but on the opposite end of the spectrum you get '2002', a song about the childhood lifestyle that Anne-Marie lived that could have so easily came across as pandering to her generation, but thanks to Ed Sheeran's sincere co-writing, as well as one of the best pop hooks I've heard all year drive this song into great territory.

But overall, I get there is an audience for this, but between inconsistent songwriting, production, and performances, I would struggle to recommend this to anyone outside of isolated moments. It's a very light 2.5 / 5 from me, and if it wasn't for '2002' bring such a great song, it would have been a lot lower.

Overall Rating: 2.5 / 5

Best Songs: '2002', 'Ciao Adios', 'Can I Get Your Number', 'Then'

Worst Songs: 'Bad Girlfriend', 'Trigger'

Review of: ‘Accidentally On Purpose’ by The Shires

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’

Review of: ‘Golden Hour’ by Kacey Musgraves

I feel like I've been spoilt this year given the number of albums from artists I love scheduled to come out in April / May time, and this is the first big one from an artists that introduced me to traditional country and owe a lot to in terms of how my music taste has been shaped in recent years. Just like basically everyone, I was won over straight from the off with her stunning, borderline classic 2013 album 'Same Trailer Different Park' and haven't been able to look back since; an album that, for the record, entirely holds up to this day.

And while her sophomore album, 2015's 'Pageant Material' is a slightly weaker album due to the dramatic stakes being significantly weakened, I would still be looking forward to a new album if it was coming. And now we've got it in the form of 'Golden Hour', my most anticipated album of the year. Did we get the classic we all know she can make?

Simply put, no. In fact, I would go as for to say that this is the furthest that Kacey Musgraves has been over the course of her three album discography which is endlessly disappointing, as I said, this was my most anticipated album of they year, and to see it come out like this is a damn shame. However, it would certainly be unfair to say that 'Golden Hour' is a bad album either, as this is far from the case. What Musgraves and her collaborating songwriters and producers bring to the table with this album is a lot of potentially interesting ideas that let fragments of the Kacey Musgraves I loved in 2013, interspersed with love songs that can occasionally feel indistinct.

What is certainly not indistinct here is the familiar voice of Kacey Musgraves, and while she is at no point as subtly expressive as she was on the best moments of 'Same Trailer Different Park', but she still has a great voice which she effortlessly flexes throughout this album. That is, apart from the interlude 'Mother' where she sounds a half step away from RaeLynn for some reason. But, on an overwhelming majority of this album, like the standout 'Love Is A Wild Thing' that shows off Musgraves' great upper range, the closer 'Rainbow', and the rather upsetting subtler delivery on 'Space Cowboy' are all tracks that showcase Musgraves' excellent voice. I just wish the production that she have behind her was more consistent.

That doesn't mean to say that there aren't some decent moments in the production too, though. Musgraves and her production do have great tastes in chord progressions on the piano ballads like 'Mother' and 'Rainbow', I'll give her a lot of credit for that. Not to mention the excellent jangling groove on 'Love Is A Wild Thing', the stab at disco funk that goes surprisingly decently on 'High Horse', and the phenomenal reverb touched hook on 'Space Cowboy', these are all great moments, don't get me wrong, but for every time something goes well on 'Golden Hour' the production team lets a lot of poor tonal choices slip through. Why the awful sounding vocal snippet opening 'Oh, What A World' was included on the finished version of the track I've got no idea, as well as the synthetic fragment on the first verse; there's a a similar problem with the grading synthetic guitar tones on the solo on the borderline synth pop 'Velvet Elvis', with flat vocal production that seems to entirely ignore Musgraves' fundamental appeal.

It also seems that the tightly weaved melodies that made up 'Same Trailer Different Park' and to a lesser extent 'Pageant Material' have been significantly softened, and, on songs like 'Space Cowboy', seemed to have picked up a lot of hazy atmosphere that does kind of clash with some of the more rigid tracks here. Going from 'Slow Burn' to 'Lonely Weekend' is a bit jarring.

It also appears that no one has a clue what their doing with the percussion,which is either painfully thin, yet overweight like on 'Lonely Weekend' where the mixing is a complete nightmare, especially on the hook, or equally thin, and incredibly underwhelming like on 'Happy And Sad' making for a generally confused and unsettled listing experience that feels nowhere near as grounded as it could have done, but maybe I'm being too harsh. After all, the element that won over fans for Kacey Musgraves in 2013 was the writing.

And, once again, your getting a mixed bag, with a lot more love songs this time round. Like the fairly innocent bouncy 'Butterflies' with the extended butterfly metaphor being pretty cute, but what I found more striking was the line 'grandma cried when I pieced my nose' on the opening track 'Slow Burn' which picks up a lot more emotional weight when she discusses her own mother on 'Mother', there is definitely pathos to that. 'Space Cowboy' also works by taking the imagery of a horse in its field and gently crafting it into something so much more; just further evidence that Kacey Musgraves is sill as talented a songwriter as ever. Nowhere on this album is that more apparent on the excellent track 'Love Is A Wild Thing' that may be one of the best songs I've heard all year with heartfelt lyrics linking love to nature, highlighting the organic and inescapable nature of love itself. Gorgeous song.

The closer 'Rainbow' falls into a similar category, a track that discusses the difficulty that one undergoes in overcoming ones problems, but also the rewarding nature of overcoming said problems all through Kacey Musgraves rich and gorgeously framed lyrics. 'Lonely Weekend' perhaps goes even further where Musgraves tries to insist to herself that she's content with being alone at the weekend, but by that hook, you realise that there's definitely more too it than that, she still describes herself as lonely after all.

The writing doesn't always stick, though. 'High Horse' is perhaps the most blatant example. Musgraves tries to tell some anonymous person to get out of town as they think they're so much cooler than everyone else, but every listen to that song just further convinces me that Kacey Musgraves was not the right singer to deliver this message. She is a better fit for love songs like 'Velvet Elvis' and 'Golden Hour', and 'Wonder Woman' but no love song on this album is comparable to 'Somebody to Love' or 'Late To The Party' from 'Pageant Material'.

To make the 'Pageant Material' comparison once more, 'Happy And Sad' tries to be the ultra relatable song about mingled emotions, but this isn't too far removed from what Musgraves did on 'Miserable', a far better song.

As it is, it may appear that I'm being too harsh towards an album that is indeed good. I will admit I did have huge expectations going in, but I genuinely thought that Kacey Musgraves was going to do something amazing with this album, but, as it is, it's merely good. Huge disappointment, but still an incredibly strong 3.5 / 5, but it should have been more.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Best Songs: 'Love Is A Wild Thing', 'Space Cowboy', 'Rainbow'

Worst Songs: 'Velvet Elvis', 'Golden Hour'