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Morgan Wallen’s voice can be as abrasive as the bottom liquor he sings. When auditioning for a short stint on “The Voice” in 2014, Shakira called the aspiring country singer’s vocal tone “as manly as it gets,” a distinction he then built with a look to testosterone that combines the cut of plaids, a mullet and a slogan to start the party, “GAHT”, something like a good old boy’s “dale”.
Wallen’s loud side first got him noticed in Nashville, but showing his soul on songs like “Cover Me Up,” a bruised version of a Jason Isbell song, made him a superstar. Even before the release of his second album, Dangerous, the Sneedville, Tennessee native, had racked up 3.4 billion streams, including four No.1 country airplay and a notoriously high-profile Billboard top 10 by being uninvited from Saturday Night Live after the video of Wallen not wearing a mask at a party. Dangerous has 30 songs, two records and two modes: the “rowdy” that stirs up hell in fools, and the romantic dream of its own piece of heaven. Although Wallen’s idea was to divide the album by theme, things aren’t that narrow. Even at his loudest, Wallen is given to soul-searching, and he can make the simplest love song.
The Music Row pictures are well worn; Wallen takes a closer look to find a new grain. On “865” he’s a poet laureate of drunken despair, getting closer to drunk numbering with every stroke; on Thomas Rhett’s co-writing “Whiskey’d My Way,” it has the pathos of an injured puppy, approaching a crush on pedal steel. Despite their intimacy, these are songs made to fill football stadiums; DangerousSole producer Joey Moi provides a sparkle that can make Wallen’s music as epic as anything Adele. With its catchy chorus and oversized guitar solo, “Silverado for Sale” brings a truck love song to life, as Wallen realizes with glassy eyes that his memories are etched in every wrinkle of his bench.
Part of what makes Wallen’s handwriting so magnetic is the simple, idiomatic shorthand that takes you straight into his world. Take the lines that twist your tongue that open “Somebody’s Problem”, a tender ballad for a free-spirited woman who is part of Dangerous“Best Songs”: “A Bama-red 4Runner pulled in the party / With a 30A sticker on the rear windshield,” he sings, an image so vivid you can practically smell the gasoline. He has a riddler’s ear for the pun and an enchantment with the everyday that makes “dodge potholes in my sunburnt Silverado”, as he sings on the piano opener “Sand in. My Boots ”, seems downright attractive. Wallen’s biggest crossover hit to date, Shane McAnally co-wrote “7 Summers,” is lit by the pink glow of lost love. Reverie is not without its bite: Wallen spells out the double meaning of the lyrics with a stand-up comic book talent for timing. “It was seven summers of coca … / And Southern Comfort,” he sings, a hook that plays innocently enough for country radio but holds a knowing wink for those who really like to rage.
As Wallen’s audience grew, so did his taste. DangerousThe tall, light title track is a maximalist flip of the angular pop-art that packaged Scottish indie nightclubs in the ’80s, and the booming drums and’ 80s synths of ‘This Bar’ wouldn’t ring a bell. their place on Taylor Swift’s red. A weaker spot is “Wasted on You,” with a mix of trap and guitar twang that’s not as smooth as the country / hip-hop hybrids of, say, Hunt. But among the 30 tracks on the album, there are few jumps. You might lose the slightly “Only Thing That’s Gone” phrase, which wastes a Chris Stapleton feature, and the overly literal “Outlaw”. The loud riffs of “Country A $$ Shit” take inspiration from the fun philosophy of Wallen’s 2017 Florida Georgia Line collaboration, “Up Down,” but loses its charm.
Wallen’s best songs need less adornment, as with the album bookends “Quittin ‘Time” and “Sand in My Boots,” the confessional of a torn child that resonates as if he was singing. from the pulpit of a church. “Something about the way she kissed me tells me she would love East Tennessee,” Wallen sings, as her squeaky voice turns into a howl that could reach the neon moon. The feeling is quite familiar, but when Wallen sings it, it is enough to make you shiver.
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