Tomorrow, Thomas Rhett will release his brand new album – Where We Started – including the immensely powerful new single ‘Death Row.’ The record sees Rhett once more dig back into his roots, a journey that he started on his project Country Again: Side A. Pre-order/pre-save the album here ahead of its release.
Last year, Thomas Rhett kicked off a new era of his music with the release of Country Again: Side A, it was to the surprise of fans then that he announced this year his new project Where We Started rather than Side B of that record. The reason? The joyful return of live music. As Rhett described in an interview with Entertainment Focus, he decided to make that pivot when returning to the stage needing more of the high-energy tracks that we have come to expect from a Thomas Rhett show. The result is Where We Started a pop-fuelled, immensely fun record.There’s a lot more partying, alcohol and fun than we have come to expect from Rhett’s more mature latest offerings, but this is not a criticism given that Tangled will go down as one of our favourite country records of all time. Amidst that backdrop though, there are a number of powerful gems that pack a punch, diving into love, faith and redemption. Where We Started sees Thomas Rhett play again with the boundaries of his sound and the genre, infusing fresh pop sounds, production and lyricism into his music – notably he teams up with pop icon Katy Perry on the title track.
This intention to provide high-energy tracks befitting Rhett’s live set is clear. So, ‘Church Boots’ is a grooving and fun autobiographic melody. Penned by Rhett, Ashley Gorley, Jesse Frasure and Ernest, the track is reminiscent of the vibe of the heyday of Tangled Up, a joyfully disjointed and joyful melody that possesses all the joy at Rhett’s return to the stage. Following track, ‘Bass Pro Hat’ again feels like it could have been a bonus track on Tangled Up, an ode to his wife and Southern living in tandem. ‘My baby got a bass pro hat / Turned back in the cap of my tractor, yeah… Sweet tea, going nowhere fast / Might sound crazy but we like it like that.’ It’s a laid back, slow groove that portrays the slower pace of life, yet fizzes with high energy. So too, ‘Anything Cold’ is an irreverently breezy track, celebrating the joys of an ice cold beer, or jack and coke and ‘Half Of Me’ featuring Riley Green brings in a lazily honky-tonk feel as the duo sing back and forth about wanting to indulge in a drink ‘There’s a world of bad decisions out there, but this ain’t one / Cos half of me wants a cold, cold beer / And that’s the cold hard truth.’ It’s the kind of track that will be a mammoth anthemic staple in its live rendition – you can already imagine half the crowd raising said ‘cold, cold beer’ to Rhett. It’s a marker of Rhett’s ability to play around with instrumentation on this record when you place this track alongside later song ‘Simple As A Song’ – a far groovier, jauntier track, where Rhett is allowed the space to experiment with the production, playing with vocal tracks, ukulele and more. ‘If you’re gonna love me, baby love me simple as a song.’ It’s this ability to change up the feel of these high energy songs that shows Rhett’s versatility as an artist.
Of course, Rhett has earned a name for his autobiographically romantic songs that are as much a part of his set as are these high energy anthems. Where We Started is infused with these, starting with ‘The Hill,’ a musing delight of a track that sees Rhett look back on the journey to this point and the love that he has built his life around. Accompanied by a faint string section, it’s a swelling and tender track where Rhett acknowledges the importance of fighting and working on a long-term relationship ‘Fighting for your love / That’s the hill I want to die on.’ Elsewhere, on ‘Mama’s Front Door,’ Rhett reflects on how many memories and pivotal moments of his life have occurred at his wife’s mama’s front door, ending up now ‘At your mama’s front door, had to knock with my knee / Got three crazy kids hanging all over me / And I sat ’em down, my heart fell through the floor / Watching them run through your mama’s front door.‘ It’s a heartfelt and tender, whimsical guitar-driven ballad, akin to ‘Sixteen,’ in which Rhett showcases the honeyed tone of his vocal. Not to be outdone, ‘Us Someday’ offers a glorious orchestral part in a heart-warming romantic ballad, in which Rhett imagines a conversation with his wife Lauren at 19 about where their life would go, telling that ‘Right now feels like forever / Like it’s a million miles away,’ but envisioning a life with ‘Couple kids runnin’ wild in the backyard / Handprints in a new driveway / Road trips in a packed-out old car / Little League on a Saturday.’ The orchestral string part amplifies the emotion of the track, an idea started on the ‘Slow Down Summer,’ a sun and nostalgia-drenched piano-led ballad, reminiscent to earlier hit ‘Marry Me’ where Rhett dwelled on the idea of star-crossed love, filled with romantic tension. ‘We had our hopes up and the windows down / Fallin’ fast in a one-lane town / Tangled up with your lips on mine / Never seen a brighter green in those eyes and / I put my jacket on your shoulder / Wishin’ the weather wasn’t gettin’ colder / Lettin’ you go, holdin’ onto each other / Closin’ our eyes, sayin’, “Slow down, summer.‘ The gloriously indulgent string section on the track sets this aside, where Rhett negates fiddle and steel in favour of a more orchestral arrangement that gives it a more epic feel that will again translate well to a live rendition.
Three tracks stand aside though in the record, showing Rhett’s depth as an artist and why he has got here from where he started. First, ‘Angels’ lays his love at his wife’s door, praising her for putting up with his flaws. Co-written by Rhett, Josh Thompson, Julian Bunetta and Jaten Dimsdale, it is a mid-tempo, guitar-driven and stripped back powerful romantic track that shows Rhett’s immense vulnerability. ‘You shoulda slammed the door / And changed the locks and said adios to my selfish heart, tore it apart and left me alone / Don’t know why you were patient and wasted good saving on me / Maybe angels don’t always have wings.’ It’s simply a joy to listen to and showcases Rhett’s vocal and songwriting in full force. This songwriting depth is hammered home on ‘Death Row’ featuring Russell Dickerson and Tyler Hubbard – the shining crown jewel of the album. The track was inspired by a life-changing visit the trio took to visit the inmates on death row. Penned with Ashley Gorley and Zach Crowell, the artists sing about their real-life experience performing for prisoners on death row in 2019 and realising that they were much more relatable and familiar than they had previously thought. It’s a powerful song about redemption, faith and forgiveness. ‘I can’t say that he’s in Heaven, who am I to judge his soul? / But Jesus don’t play favourites, sayin’ a name that He don’t know / Yeah I learned that and then some, with them boys down on death row.’ Finally, ‘Where We Started’ with Katy Perry is a pop-infused delight about being proud of how far they’ve come. ‘Just look at that road and think about where we started.’ Vocally, the two superstars match up in surprising form on the track, creating immense harmonies and it is a marker of just how far Rhett has come, remaining firmly in country but infusing pop elements into his records – a shrewd choice.
Where We Started is a delight to listen to, more for these deeper, more mature tracks but it is a record that is built for the live stage. It feels like a disservice to review in the studio form, for the energy that Rhett will infuse into the songs from his ardent fans will make them transcendent in their live translation. Still, Where We Started is a really strong record from start to finish, where Rhett’s joy to return to the live circuit is palpable.
