Album Review: Blake Shelton – Bringing Back The Sunshine
2 min read
If you live in America, Mr Blake Shelton is a household name. His work on the American version of The Voice cemented his celebrity status, and along with his cheeky attitude, it was inevitable his rise to stardom would continue. This is where a lot of artists sometimes allow their music – the thing that got them to where they are in the first place – slip away from them. Too busy living the Hollywood lifestyle can easily get in the way of the day job, so with Blake being the hot ticket of the moment, how has his new album Bringing Back the Sunshine fared?
Luckily for his fans, the music’s lost none of its charming integrity which makes Blake who he is – a clever, and inventive country singer. The album titled first track kicks in sounding more like ACDC, evolving seamlessly into country pop with a rock chorus in a way that only Blake could do. With its upbeat attitude and forward thinking melody, it’s a real treat of an opener. This is followed by latest single Neon light, featuring tints of bluegrass set against a hip hop beat and country guitars. It manages to once again show off Blake’s improvisation and imagination that have got him to where he is today. His character is on full show here with the sublime lyrics ‘I take a shot of I don’t care what you’re doing , chase that down with a cold screw you’.
Attitude is again the main vibe on track Gonna, showing buckets of confidence against a strong riff, while Buzzin’ wallows in the sleazy and sordid as Blake sings of ‘Chillin’ like a villain’ without it sounding ridiculous; no mean feat. Blake is having fun with this record and it shows.
The area where the album maybe loses its track a little is with the ballads. Lonely Tonight seems a little deflated with not enough substance, and the album seems to slow down too much by the end, making it lose some of it’s zip. This is luckily curtailed by ending ironically with Just Gettin’ Started – a welcome injection of pace and a promise of more to come. There are still some great ballads on there however, such as the wonderful A Girl. Walking the line towards rap in the verses, it’s mixed against a smooth, settled chorus and somehow eerily reminiscent of R Kellys Ignition in places. This is not something you’d expect country to sound like, but really works.
When Blake is on form he can’t be beaten for breathing fresh life into the country music scene. It’s all on show here, and despite maybe one too many ballads, it really is a great album. His ego is backed up by his astounding musical versatility, with Bringing Back the Sunshine being one of his greatest records to date.
