Under the cut: Country singles, reviews of All That by Carly Rae Jepsen, Photograph by Ed Sheeran, Weekend Millionaires by Katelyn Tarver and Unbreakable Smile by Tori Kelly.
All That - Carly Rae Jepsen I was pleasantly surprised by this ballad. It's more similar to her first album than anything else, and is much more mature than anything on Kiss or I Really Like You. I've bought it, and it's made me hopeful that perhaps there will be more songs like this on her album.
You Part 2 (radio mix) - Olivia Lane This song is one of those where you'll play it a few times, check the clock, check the play count and ask yourself "HOW did this get so many plays?!" At least that was my experience. It's ridiculously catchy, and co-written by Ilya Toshinskiy — no, not the pop music Ilya, the Carrie Underwood Ilya. I like the radio version better than the original (which had a rap bridge) and think it'll do very well on radio.
Sangria - Blake Shelton I first heard Blake Shelton perform this song while I was watching the ACMs. I don't like it quite as much as I liked his previous single with Ashley Monroe, Lonely Tonight, but there are some really good lyrics. (and I'm happy "buzzing like" is finally having something added to it that isn't "a streetlight")
Weekend Millionaires - Katelyn Tarver I've been waiting for new music from Katelyn Tarver since her 2011 EP A Little More Free, which I absolutely adored. You can tell from just the title that this song is nothing like any of the songs on her EP. In all honesty, it's kind of annoying (and it really pains me to say this, because I wanted to love it.) Hopefully the rest of her album will be different.
Bloodstream & Photograph - Ed Sheeran Bloodstream was one of my least favorite songs off X, and Photograph was one of my favorites, so things balance out well. For Bloodstream, depictions of drug abuse just aren't my kind of thing. It's well written but freaks me out a bit, so it's really one of the "it's not you it's me" situations. But Photograph. Photograph is amazing and I freaked out so much when I heard it was his next single. I've already heard some amazing covers of it by Mackenzie Johnson and some duets, and it's very exciting that there will be more.
Girl Crush - Little Big Town This song wasn't technically released this month, but the music video was and it's been getting so much media attention that it seemed appropriate to review it this month. Anyone who knows me will not be surprised I like this song, because I admire the songwriting of the Love Junkies (Liz Rose, Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey) who wrote this song. The controversy behind this song is frankly ridiculous — it's obviously not about an actual girl crush or an actual situation where a girl would want to kiss another girl — but even if it were, would that be so bad? After all, country radio seemed to accept Kacey Musgraves' Follow Your Arrow without question, and that song does have the lyrics "Or kiss lots of girls if that's what you're into".
Unbreakable Smile - Tori Kelly Before, with Nobody Love, I wasn't really sure I was going to be listening to the rest of Tori Kelly's album (I liked Dear No One, but thought she was changing direction too much with Nobody Love.) But the lyrics of the second single off her album and its title track are much more substantial, and even the la-de-da bit blends well with the rest of the song. The lyrics are candid, similar in theme to Taylor Swift's New Romantics (I make this comparison because they both work with the same producer, Max Martin.) I'm sure this will become an anthem for many people.
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