Justin Moore - Straight Outta The Country (2021) Hi-Res

Justin Moore has been a very reliable exponent of traditional country music since his first self-titled CD was released in 2009, and has withstood many a fad in the Nashville music business. Now he has released his sixth studio album and he lives up to his reputation: The topics are well known, so you can't expect a surprise from Moore. Rather, it's the way he sings and how the songs then sound.

And this is how it starts: “Hearing Things” tells how he hears all the noises in the big city that pull him - well where to: “They are calling me home”, that is to say to the country where he comes from and there is a lot is better. The title track “Straight Outta The Country” follows the same motto: the good and content life in the small town and is reminiscent of Moore's first number 1 “Small Town USA”.

There is unhappy love, and he works out sadness with energy: "She Ain't Mine No More". The singer vividly describes what he will be missing now that she is gone. We hear the same theme, this time a bit slower, in “You Keep Me Getting Drunk”. How do I get over us when I can't even stay sober? Sure, he is to blame for the breakup, but because of her he just drinks the whiskey. Sounds sappy, it is also a little, but you like it!

"Consecutive Days Alive" offers a look back at an eventful life, whereby he can be happy that he is still enjoying it. And he rocks quite a lot, "Southern Rock" would be the technical term for the performance. Take it easy, and unusual for this CD is “More Than Me”, an ode to his children and again we like to listen. His current single, currently at number 24 in the country charts and rising, is a look back at his youth and the expected cliché "We Didn’t Have Much": We didn’t have much, but we were happy. And at the end of the CD Moore recorded this song again acoustically, accompanied only by two guitars.

We can say: This is what modern country music sounds like with traditional roots, it can be pleasing. The themes aren't exactly original though, although the songs are well written and produced. After all, renowned songwriters such as Michael Wilson Hardy, Rhett Akins and Paul DiGioanni are represented. But what is more than astonishing, almost annoying: Straight Outta The Country contains just eight titles. Nowadays it's a longer EP. Justin Moore should have given us more songs.