To this day, Ryan Adams records tend to be weighed up against his admittedly untouchable debut LP,Heartbreaker. Thankfully, that’s never halted the songwriter’s progress. Moving on from the acoustic instrumentation of 2011’sAshes & Fire, Adams’ 14th LP finds the prolific songwriter in front of a more changeable and largely electric backdrop.
With this power behind him, Adamsinvokes some of his less fashionable influences to great effect. The record’s most intimate track, ‘My Wrecking Ball’, is the only time the ‘alt-country’ tag seems apt. Otherwise, Adams conveys his grievances by echoing the heartland soft-rock stylings of Petty and Mellencamp, as well as ’80s Dylan and Springsteen. Thematically, Ryan Adams isn’t all picnic rugs and Prosecco. In fact, it details vanquished love and unanswered desires, though Adams finds a way to soften the blow. For instance, the stabbing minor key verses on ‘Gimme Something Good’ grow to considerable weight before giving way to the Polaroid light saturation of the choruses, and the heavier concerns seem to fly off the back of a shiny red convertible.
At first glance this album smacks of somewhat daggy familiarity. But nothing is served up in black and white, which leaves plenty of room for interaction.
4/5.
