Album title: Brett Young
Artist: Brett Young
Genre: Country Pop
Nationality: American
Release date: February 10
Position in Discography: Debut
Fear Factor: Very High
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 2.52
Everything about this screams that I'll hate it: the guy's name, his pretty-boy image, the fact it's a debut and, most importantly, the genre. I like country, but country pop is a hard sell to me. It's kind of one of the worst fusions of music – not the worst, obviously, but I don't feel country and pop music have any business being within a thousand miles of each other. I'll give him credit for writing most of the songs (or co-writing them anyway) but you see, the thing for me about country (and I accept I am no expert, nor even close to it) is that country – real, honest country – is built on the experiences and the realities faced by its main proponents. When Cash sings about Folsom, you know he's been there. When Nelson bemoans farms failing, yes it's not his farm but you can be sure he knows someone for whom this is their story. When Crystal, Dolly or Emmylou weep about broken hearts (their own or those they've broken) you believe them. Why? Because they've been through it, they've experienced it, or at least allow you to believe they could have.
This new brand of “young” country pop stars, from the likes of Randy Travis and Garth Brooks to Faith Hill and Shania Twain, just don't seen experienced enough to have undergone these calamities, and mostly what they sing about are subjects which I, personally, don't consider important to the bones of country. Mostly, they seem to be singing to make money and have hits, whereas the old school country guys and gals sing from the heart: the story, the experience is paramount, the rewards secondary. All of which makes it very hard for me to treat country pop stars with anything less than contempt, as if they're polluting the country gene pool.
So back to our man Brett. Well mostly he's singing about love and having his heart broken, but hey, he's in his twenties so sorry, but I'm not going to expect that he's experienced anything more than any other twenty-something guy has at this stage. Pretty puerile really. I see he mentions that what he writes about in most of the songs he has experienced, and that's something, certainly, but as I say, what he sings about here is nothing special or outstanding, and it doesn't mean anything to me.
Check out more from this artist? No
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? If I can avoid it, no
Expectation Index: 0