A strong vocal performance from Tae Lewis is today’s highlight.
“Best Thing”
Tae Lewis
Written by Jonathan Gamble, Tae Lewis, and Matthew Morrisey
Jonathan Keefe: I’ve been rooting for Lewis since I saw him perform with The Black Opry Revue a few years ago, and “Best Thing” sounds like his surest bet to date for an actual radio or streaming hit. He’s a spectacular singer: His tone recalls a young Keith Urban, but he has a greater range and far more power.
And it’s his singing that elevates “Best Thing.” I love the unexpected lapse into his falsetto in the chorus here and how his phrasing really emphasizes the natural cadence of the lyrics in time with the beat. He really does have great instincts as a vocalist, and Lord knows that singing this good would elevate playlists overrun with Wallen and Bryan clones.
Still, the song itself couldn’t be more generic Music Row fodder. It’s something that any current B-lister– think Russell Dickerson or Jordan Davis– might spend 60 weeks trudging to a #1 Mediabase / #5 Billboard split peak that would then get zero recurrent airplay. And, gifted as he is, Lewis needs to be lending his talents to better material than this. C+
Kevin John Coyne: I also thought of a young Keith Urban when I heard this, with a little bit of Hunter Hayes in the mix. But when that falsetto kicks in, it’s hard not to think of a young Charley Pride.
The vocal performance is definitely the highlight here, as it takes a paint by numbers sentiment and infuses it with a heartfelt enthusiasm. Lewis has as strong a country singing voice as I’ve heard come along in recent years, and as his craft develops over time, he’s only going to get better. B
“Heart of Stone”
Jelly Roll
Written by Shy Carter, Zach Crowell, Jason Deford, and Blake Pendergrass
KJC: I’m starting to feel bad for Gretchen Wilson. I keep dragging her name into these things.
But man, is her one note career starting to look a lot like Jelly Roll’s current trajectory. He’s a decent singer who compensates for his limitations by singing with extreme intensity.
But when you’re using that same intensity on every record, and every record is about the exact same thing, you can’t avoid diminishing returns. We’ve heard this Jelly Roll song thirty times already. C
JK: I was kind of hoping this was a Cher cover.
Alas.
I’m deep into my Jelly Roll fatigue, and this does nothing to change that. I can appreciate that hammering home the same points as nauseam has allowed him to create a persona that resonates with his fanbase, and there’s something to be said for that. But that persona isn’t one that I personally connect with, so he needs quality material to hold my attention.
And, well, when it comes to country-rock, I’d rather listen to this. C
I’m still so puzzled by a trend referenced above:
“might spend 60 weeks trudging to a #1 Mediabase / #5 Billboard split peak that would then get zero recurrent airplay.”
What is the point of that trend for labels? What are they getting out of a song that takes a year to climb the charts, has no real streaming, and is then forgotten? It seems like that money and energy would be better spent by investing in songs and artists that are already streaming decently without that push.
A better question might be: Why the hell do they keep making songs like this to begin with?!
At this point, I’d love to see an actual P&L as it relates to this, because it is nearly impossible to fathom how labels are actually recouping any degree of investment off these year-plus terrestrial radio treks, considering how much “don’t call it payola” money gets thrown into advertising and “push week” chart manipulations. I just don’t believe it moves the needle for the label or for an artist’s career to be able to say something like, “Chayce Beckham is a 9000 Spin Artist,” when he’d be hard-pressed to fill a 900-seat venue on a weekend. It’s absurd. It should be *rare* for a single’s life cycle to be more than 6 months based on the way that actual humans listen to music.
While I agree with most of what you write there, I’m not sure I agree [anymore] about human listening habits. Considering how many old songs are still streaming well on Spotify and the like, I think people do listen to songs for awhile. I do think country songs should climb radio more quickly, but the steep drop offs are the biggest evidence of payola/shenanigans because why would a song suddenly lose 2000 spins otherwise?
But yeah, Morgan Walgreen’s yearS old album still contending for #1 on the album chart because its songs still stream so well shows people cling to music forever (of course, the album being approximately 83 songs long helps too).
The ones that get me are when they do a 60-week trek to the Top 5… twice… and still don’t release the album. Looking at you, Chase Bryant.
Man, remember when it was weird that Amy Dalley had like, four top 30 hits and still couldn’t get the album out?
Gosh, I forgot about how wronged Amy was with that situation. She deserved so, so much better.