Florida Georgia Line make their return today with their majestic fifth studio album – Life Rolls On. Here, we review the record and reveal our takeaway thoughts.
There is no doubt that Florida Georgia Line have a unique sound – they have carved their own lane in the country genre, one that no one else has been able to follow them into. They have topped the charts time and time again and were one of the first artists to really nail the crossover collaboration. This is not to say that they are without their critics, earning as many haters as they have fans over the years. The high points of their career clearly came with the first two albums – Here’s To The Good Times and Anything Goes and they have been trying to match up to that success ever since. There have even been rumours plaguing the duo for months now that this may in fact be the duo’s last record – Tyler Hubbard even unfollowed by Brian Kelley during the U.S. election and they have both announced that they will be embarking on solo projects, the first with Hubbard’s new single with Tim McGraw. Today though, the focus is on the album itself – Life Rolls On. It is definitely an improvement from their fourth studio record – Can’t Say I Ain’t Country – and is filled with the kind of charming authenticity and celebration of humble roots that fans have come to expect from the pair, feeling more like a return to their earlier hey-days than a chance at reinvention. However, as much as there are some hits on the record, there are still, inevitably, some clear misses.
‘Long Live,’ the current single, opens the record and establishes the sound of the record – sonically, it is no departure from the previous and it does almost feel like in their current formation the duo are stuck. Throughout the entirety of the record, the duo celebrate both their country and the genre (‘Countryside,’ and ‘I Love My Country’) and pen love letters to their wives (‘Always Gonna Love You’ and ‘Hard to Get to Heaven’). There are moments where the album feels lyrically tired, veering into corny territory, with lines like ‘It ain’t hard to get to heaven, hell I go there every night‘ on ‘Hard to Get to Heaven’ and tracks like ‘New Truck’ and ‘Beer:30’ that are a poor advertisement at best for the development of country music as a poised and thoughtful genre. There are definitely moments of the brilliance that have established them as one of the biggest acts in country music, like ‘Eyes Closed’ that has hues of pop, R&B, country and even soul.
Doubtless, fans of Florida Georgia Line will be more than happy with this latest offering, but the duo have always been pioneers of the genres and through that lens, the album falls below expectations – while there are some smash hits, these are not enough to carry the record in its entirety. Let’s hope that if the duo release a new record, it will push into new territory rather than staying in their comfort zone.
The album is available everywhere here.
