Chris Stapleton’s new album ‘Starting Over’ is a forward-looking throwback. Read our review
Stapleton seems equally in his element on songs that echo the pop songwriting he’s done for artists like Kelly Clarkson and Timberlake. He explores new sonic territory on the stately piano tune “Cold,” and slow-burning ballads like “You Should Probably Leave” show that he may be at his best when working with grooving, midtempo R&B.
Like Frank Sinatra, Stapleton has an uncanny ability to make other songwriters’ material feel like his own. The covers here are high points, from the two reverent Guy Clark tunes to a surprisingly vital take on a 20-plus-year-old anonymous John Fogerty song, “Joy of My Life.” Since so much of this album feels so comfortable, it’s noteworthy that the most interesting moment comes when Stapleton tries something new. The stormy vengeance rocker “Watch You Burn” is country’s most direct response to the 2017 mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival . He ends with another moment of tension, the farewell ballad “Nashville, TN”: “Now you won’t miss me when I’m gone,” he sings to the city itself. “You’re custom-made for moving on.” Should Stapleton ever really break out of his comfort zone, Music City may end up following him to his next destination anyway.
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