The Singles Jukebox

Vince Gill: a tad better than Cassadee Pope, we say…

[Video][Website]
[5.50]

Brad Shoup: Oh, I missed his voice. But I missed when it was warmly applied. (I wonder if that’s why he sings about neon here.) He works himself up to a good sob thinking about all the times he’s missing — he breaks off the word “lights” like he shoplifted from a ’70s honky-tonk weeper — and there’s no tears left for the guitar. I guess it’s like they say: it’s different for boys.
[5]

Alfred Soto: For once a recent drunk-on-a-plane anthem sounds lived in, thanks to Chris Young’s thick beefsteak of a voice. Gill, playing pedal steel, I assume, provides poignant accompaniment.
[7]

Thomas Inskeep: Chris Young has a classic country music baritone, which I’m happy to listen to all day. “Sober Saturday Night” is a typical ’10s country power ballad, speaking of missing an ex through the veil of liquor, or in this case no liquor. (Funny to think how 30 years ago this would’ve been a hit for Bryan Adams instead of a country singer.) But Young’s performance and the production are solid. I also love that Vince Gill has apparently become country’s version of Nile Rodgers. He’s here on backing vocals, but you can barely hear him — but then again, a Gill stamp of approval is worth plenty in my book.
[7]

Cassy Gress: My favorite male country songs are all sung by baritones, and Chris has a great guttural low A, but his corresponding high A is a bit strangled and it makes me wonder if the whole thing could have been shifted down a half-tone or two, or if that would have put it too far out of his range on the other end. Vince Gill is harmonizing, I think, but he’s mixed so low that it’s hard to tell it’s him; it may as well just be Chris harmonizing with himself. This should be either a yearning ballad or a “jesus, close the goddamn curtains” malady, but there’s a stomp-stomp-clap in the drum pattern that’s giving this a weird “training montage for the big game” vibe.
[4]

Katie Gill: Generic sad country song that uses silly booze metaphors and rhymes “hungover” with “over.” Half-formed mid-album fodder like this is why the general public thinks of country music as cliche and uninspired.
[4]

Anthony Easton: I was moving stuff in an old minivan to a friend’s garage with a musician I have become close to. The musician and I are both from the prairies, and I rarely get to listen to country radio, so we were driving through quickly gentrifying east Hamilton talking about it. He thought the inclusion of hip hop prevented classic storytelling from occurring in New Nashville. I disagreed — not that I don’t love classic country storytelling. This song is well-written: simple, concise, with a strong narrative. The guitars are intricate, and the vocals are gorgeous. It is what I imagine my musician buddy would want. And I love Vince Gill, but I would like a little beat on it. 
[6]