Country is all the rage these days with the likes of Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons and Taylor Swift all championing the genre whilst also producing commercially friendly chart toppers. Lady Antebellum are no exception. Fronted by Nashville-born Hillary Scott, the country-pop trio have enjoyed huge success so far. In fact, since 2008, Lady Antebellum have won almost 50 awards – seven of which being Grammys. Will this success continue with new album 'Golden'? It’s a bit of a no-brainer, really.
Opening with the fairly standard country-pop track ‘Get To Me’, 'Golden' is full of your typical Lady Antebellum clichés: lyrics about heartbreak, mournful vocals and tracks that you can’t help tapping your foot to. ‘Goodbye Town’ is the epitome of what Lady Antebellum are all about – its infectious pop chorus is sung in harmony by both Scott and Charles Kelley while background vocals echo another hook in itself. Toward the end of the track, Kelley has a small vocal improvisation section which adds to the heartfelt nature of the song and rounds it all off to a perfect close.
‘Nothing Like The First Time’ showcases Lady Antebellum’s signature country harmonies while ‘Downtown’ sees Scott in a whole new light. ‘Downtown’ unearths an unseen, almost X-Rated side to Scott as she takes the lead with an ultra-sensual twist. Her super seductive vocal licks glide effortlessly over the instrumentation as she sings: “I got a dress that'll show a little ‘uh uh’/But you ain't gettin' ‘uh uh’ if you don't come pick me up” She then adds, cheekily, “You might be tired, but I'm not!” This addition of a little sex appeal helps keep 'Golden' fresh and different to their previous albums which were much more innocent.
‘Can’t Stand The Rain’ uses piano as the lead instrument while Kelley and Scott bounce harmonies off each other effortlessly. Title track ‘Golden’, however, seems a little basic both lyrically and musically. Typical wailing guitars in the background provide a suitably predictable accompaniment to the painfully cheesy lyrics (“The day you strolled in/My heart was stolen/'Cause you are golden”) which just seem like an exercise in finding words to rhyme with ‘golden’.
‘Long Teenage Goodbye’ is a wistful recollection of teenage years gone by but this track, too, is fairly generic with its unimaginative guitar lines/harmonies/chord progressions etc. ‘All For Love’, on the other hand, feels a lot more real with Kelley producing heartfelt, powerful vocals on a chorus that is packed full of spirit and determination. Scott then echoes this with her own verse/chorus that is equally feisty. ‘All For Love’ is Lady Antebellum at their best – gutsy, energetic and full of life.
Disappointingly, though, Lady Antebellum seem to only have two settings: heartfelt ballad – such as ‘It Ain’t Pretty Lady’ (a piano-ballad telling the story of a broken-hearted girl and her “walk of shame”) or up-tempo country number like closing track ‘Generation Away’. ‘Generation Away’ is an upbeat pop song like many of the tracks on Golden, but it takes a peculiar twist toward the end. Three minutes in, Lady Antebellum incorporate the well-known Christian song ‘He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands’ into the track. While the transition is slick and feels natural, it’s a bizarre addition to what was otherwise a great song. Usually a bit of experimentation is welcome in an album, but here it just doesn’t work. It’s a shame it’s the closing track, too, as it uses a short fade to end. This leaves the listener feeling a little confused, as it makes for an abrupt and premature finish.
'Golden' is available now on Capitol Nashville.
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Opening with the fairly standard country-pop track ‘Get To Me’, 'Golden' is full of your typical Lady Antebellum clichés: lyrics about heartbreak, mournful vocals and tracks that you can’t help tapping your foot to. ‘Goodbye Town’ is the epitome of what Lady Antebellum are all about – its infectious pop chorus is sung in harmony by both Scott and Charles Kelley while background vocals echo another hook in itself. Toward the end of the track, Kelley has a small vocal improvisation section which adds to the heartfelt nature of the song and rounds it all off to a perfect close.
