Kenny Chesney has become somewhat of a legend in country music. He is now back with his second album recorded for Warner Music Nashville, ‘Here and Now,’ filled with Chesney’s signature anthemic sounds and some quieter, more meditative moments.
It is hard to believe that Kenny Chesney’s debut record came out 26 years ago. Since he stormed onto the scene with ‘Old Flame’ he has gone from strength to strength with a legion of huge hits, including ‘There Goes My Life’ and ‘She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy’ to become the sixth biggest touring artist. With his last album Songs for the Saints, he made the move to Warner Music Nashville. Now, he is back with his second record recorded for the label Here and Now.
The album opens with huge anthemic track ‘We Do‘ that reads as a love letter and celebration of his fanbase ‘No Shoes Nation.’ The track is loud and proud and will be great in its live translation, the refrain that the audience are bound to sing back is even built in on ‘We Do.’ ‘Who gets to live like we do, We do.’ It is a track that makes you live music, but feels right for the current climate, an all-inclusive track of hope and joy. Chesney couldn’t possibly have imagined that this record would have been released in quarantine, and in fact, he was meant to be embarking on a two week stadium tour off the back of the release. This fact is self-evident, given that as the record goes on, it is jam-packed with his signature, rich, stadium-ready anthems, including ‘Wasted’ that dwells on the idea of living in the moment.
This theme is continued in guitar-heavy ‘Here and Now’ The title track is Chesney’s current single, where he sings again about living in the moment – a prevalent theme on the record. ‘Everybody’s waiting but they’re waiting on what / You’d better get to livin.’ The track is almost catchy, but feels like it is missing the mark somewhere. Chesney’s vocal soars here, but it feels more bland than some of his earlier hits.
On this record, Chesney shows his strengths in the quieter moments. So ‘Everyone She Knows,’ a cut by country heavyweight songwriters Shane MacAnally, Ross Copperman and Josh Osborne, is a song about everyone else moving on with their life and being sick of life itself. ‘She’s stuck between seventeen and everyone she knows.’ The song is one of the high points of the record, the songwriting here is lyrical and Chesney’s vocal soars. Chesney does appear at his most compelling in these thoughtful moments. So later track ‘Someone To Fix’ provides another sweeter, more meditative moment on his own flaws. Though, bigger tracks like ‘Here and Now’ are what fans of Chesney want to hear in the live retelling, still in studio version, these quieter tracks are far more captivating.
Chesney reaches a middle-ground with ‘Wasted’ – a song about wasting drink, or wasting moments. It brings back the classic country trope about meeting an older man in a bar, who shares life stories and advice with the protagonist of the song. There are plenty of other nostalgia-riddled tracks on the album – as is to be expected from a Chesney record. So, ‘Heartbreakers’ ruminates on where the fiery characters of his past are now placed in his imagination and ‘Knowing You’ lingers on the knowledge that, even though separated, he still innately ‘knows’ his past lovers.
Sonically, Chesney does not divert much from the norm on this record, except in two songs. ‘Happy Does’ which has a Jack Johnson-esque quality that does not quite fit and the steamier ‘Tip of My Tongue.’ The latter was the entry point to this album and is one of the highlights on the record – catchy, vocally superb and ultimately memorable.
Finally, two of the strongest tracks on the album are the closing pair, ‘Beautiful World’ and ‘Guys Named Captain’ both paired as a celebration of life itself. In terms of songwriting, these were flawless choices for cuts on this record, and as a pair seem to evolve Chesney’s music past the opening bombastic tracks.
In reality, the album is signature Kenny Chesney-style. There is nothing here that breaks the mould of what he has enacted previously – but hey if it ain’t broke don’t fix it? Chesney has packed the album with tracks that will translate incredibly well to the live circuit, along with some sweeter, more contemplative moments that round out the record.
Editor’s Picks
Tip of My Tongue
Everyone She Knows
We Do
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