Life Changes

About

With 2015’s <i>Tangled Up</i>, Thomas Rhett established himself as a boundary-pusher in the realm of country music. Tapping into disco, EDM, and other sounds that were fresh to the genre, Rhett expanded his sonic palette and helped open up the idea of what was possible on a country record. The risks paid off, and <i>Tangled Up</i> was eventually certified double Platinum. On 2017’s <i>Life Changes</i>, he continued to explore a wide array of sounds in the context of country while addressing major and intimate developments in his life, like marrying his wife and the adoption and birth of his kid. The clearest example of Rhett’s songwriting playfulness comes thanks to the title track, a song that deals with the kind of developments that would normally get rendered in dramatic piano balladry but instead arrive in bouncy, uplifting pop. The album’s lead-off single, a collaboration with fellow country-pop star Maren Morris called “Craving You,” brings the banjo to the club for a simmering dance number. On “Kiss Me Like a Stranger,” Rhett taps into the silky smoothness of classic R&B, and with the heartland rock of “Renegade,” he nods to the hits of Tom Petty. “Leave Right Now” is one of the most explicitly EDM-influenced tracks in his body of work, recalling beachier cuts by The Chainsmokers with just a hint of pedal steel. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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