On his fourth studio album, Starting Over, Chris Stapleton’s relationship with the flashy Nashville music scene seems more awkward and tenuous than ever. For the most part, country music has evolved into country pop, bolstered by the popularity of artists like Florida Georgia Line, Kane Brown, and Taylor Swift.
Stapleton almost seems born for another era. His soulful, sometimes angry vocals seem much more comparable with the likes of Ronnie Van Zant, Duane Allman, and The Marshall Tucker Band, and that has never been more apparent than on the tracks of this album.
This stripped-down, no-frills offering puts the focus squarely where it belongs–on Stapleton’s raw, remarkable voice.
You Should Probably Leave, Whiskey Sunrise and When I’m With You offer the same husky, unmistakable vocals that have kept Traveller in the top ten albums chart for the last five years, but Stapleton’s brand of passionate, southern soul really sizzles on tracks like Arkansas, Hillbilly Blood, Devil Always Made Me Think Twice and Watch You Burn.
The title track is catchy, upbeat, and Stapleton also manages an admirable cover of John Fogerty’s Joy of My Life that, in other hands, might come off as overly saccharine and trite. Maggie’s Song, an ode to a rescue dog, however, doesn’t escape that fate.The music is almost jarringly similar to The Weight, and it seems too sappy compared to the rest of the album. When I’m With You might be the only truly country song on the album, reminiscent of early Waylon Jennings.
Stapleton also covers two Gary Clark titles, Worry B Gone and Old Friends. He handles the first deftly, and it provides a lighter mood compared to some of the other tracks. Old Friends feels more awkward, as Stapleton is not an artist who should talk through lyrics.
The final track of the album, Nashville, TN, raises eyebrows as it appears to be a breakup song between Stapleton and the Music City. With lines like, “So long, Nashville, Tennessee. You can’t have what’s left of me,” Stapleton seems to resist the pull of a city that only reluctantly embraces him, because his fans leave the industry no choice. Stapleton doesn’t look, or sound, like the artists they are trying to promote, and it would be a shame if he ever conformed. He may not fit the image of the typical country star, but Stapleton is impossible to ignore. This album will prove to be one of the very best of 2020’s offerings.