Tomorrow, Brett Eldredge returns with his brand new record – Songs About You – following on from 2020’s release Sunday Drive. It is a gorgeous, soulful record which sits apart from genre itself and the current commercial Nashville sound. Pre-order the record here.
When Brett Eldredge released Sunday Drive in 2020, the release heralded a brand new sonic direction in his music, after his previous, higher energy, pop-infused country releases. Sunday Drive was a more introspective, jazz-infused and soulful record that felt like Eldredge had hit his musical sweet spot. Tomorrow, he returns with his latest offering Songs About You that follows in the footsteps of Sunday Drive – a diverse and sweeping record, yet infused with a higher, more frenetic energy, complete with some wider introspective moments. Songs About You indulges more fully in the jazz sensibilities that have always had some presence in Eldredge’s music, whilst allowing space not to be pigeon-holed by genre.
So, the record opens with the meandering, jazz-infused and high energy track ‘Can’t Keep Up.’ ‘Pour me a glass of something special / I’m in the mood to celebrate / Dance like the devil went down to Georgia / Cos we can’t keep up with the hell we raised.’ It’s a boot-stomping whirlwind of energy that brings the energy back up after Sunday Drive, this energy carried through into **‘I Feel Fine.’ Though this is a more muted track, it sizzles with a quiet intensity, in a powerful track about resilience. ‘I’ve got steam on this train / I’ve got fire in my veins / I feel fine.’ The track sears and sings, noodling along with the accompaniment of a juicy guitar solo and backing vocals – one that translates gloriously in its live iteration. This jazz leaning is brought to fruition on ‘Where Do I Sign’ – a tripping, upbeat and syncopated ode to a future lover as Eldredge pines for them. The horn part elevates the whole, pushing Eldredge’s vocal to the next level. ‘Baby you’re perfect, you don’t need fixing / You need a real man to hold you and listen / You can be, I’ll just be me / We’ll come together whenever you need / I’ll give you space, but I’ll cross your mind… If you’re looking for someone to put it all on the line, tell me baby where do I sign.’ Still, Eldredge manages to just skirt the line, bringing in these jazz and soul elements whilst sticking to his country roots. This is evident on ‘Get Out of My House’ which takes the pace up a notch – a more mature version of some of his earlier more high energy songs like ‘Somethin’ I’m Good At’. Eldredge takes the idea of a lover changing his house as the metaphor for them trying to change him. It’s a joyful, hopeful melody rather than searing with vindication as he sings for them to clear out of his life. ‘I’d rather have my piece of mind than have you stay / So get out of my house.’
Still, there are some more soulful moments on the record, starting with ‘Songs About You.’ Here, Eldredge sings about his inability to move on from an ex, in the constant reminders of them through music. ‘I thought I might be moving on til I heard ‘Brown-Eyed Girl play… Now I’m just trying to get through, these songs about you.’ This feeling is brought back on ‘What Else Ya Got’ – a pensive and sensual piano ballad. ‘There’s power in your fingertips / There’s freedom hidden in your lips / It’s poetic, everywhere you move / No telling what else you can do / So take my soul and break it down / Make my heart feel like it’s found … I’ve got a lot of time / So what else you got in mind.’ It’s a slow, lingering ballad that allows space for Eldredge’s vocal and a moment of reprieve on the record.
Sunday Drive was rife with nostalgia and that sentiment is still omnipresent on Songs About You, most obviously on ‘Want That Back,’ where Eldredge looks back on his childhood and simpler, golden times. ‘And sometimes I want the world I knew / When all it took to get me through / Was half a tank, nothing planned / Parking lots / And the smell of old wood bleachers and a word of hometown preachers / Being rich was her and a cheap six-pack.’ It’s a simplicity that he also pines for on ‘Hideaway’ – a stripped-back melody, where Eldredge muses on running away with a lover to find a secluded escape together. ‘Every now and then I get to thinking / What if I sold everything, because who really needs it… We’ll drive on for miles, find a new favourite place / Maybe out of this county, even out of this state… and hideaway.’ The track is full of an understated charm that sits outside the rush of Nashville commercial traffic.
That sense of old-school romance infuses throughout the record. So, one of the most charming songs on the record is ‘Home Sweet Love,’ where Eldredge sings to a lover about being the home and safe refuge that they had always sought out. ‘You’ve been looking for solid ground and you’re tired of wondering why / You’ve been looking for a front porch / You’ve been searching for the truth / you’ve been looking for a home sweet love and I’ve been looking for you.’ His vocals are honeyed perfection here, full of emotion and warmth that he also brings into ‘Wait Up For Me’ – a meditative, lingering piano ballad – and on ‘Holy Water.’ The first is an immensely old-school romantic track whereas the latter offers a more soulful moment. Produced by Dave Cobb, it is a stunning, quiet moment, acknowledging the hard times that he has undergone to find his saviour. ‘You are my holy water / you are my river deep / wash me away and take me higher / ‘cause something about your love just sets me free.’ Accompanied by choral voices, guitar, piano and throttled drums it is an immensely powerful and emotive moment.
Still, the most powerful moment on the record is reserved for the final track – ‘Where the Light Meets the Sea’ – this may be the most beautiful and meaningful song that Eldredge has ever written. A sweeping piano ballad, in which Eldredge sings to a lover about moving on once he has passed away. ‘I hope you picture me floating in the breeze / In the place where the light meets the sea / We’re all looking for heaven, oh but heaven’s looking for me.’ It’s an emotional and powerful sonic masterpiece, about grief and the enduring power of love and is a stunning end to this record.
Whilst Songs About You does not have the same immediate impact of Sunday Drive, this is more a product of the fact that it is not a huge departure from his previous work in the way that the latter was. Songs About You shows an artist fully comfortable, finally, with his own sonic identity – imbibing many influences from jazz to soul to country, seamlessly, without losing any of his own charm and character. It is a joyful record, with much to delve into and many moments both of introspection and of joy and hope.
