Chris Stapleton - Higher Album Review

Chris Stapleton’s 2015 solo debut Traveller turned into a breath of clean air in usa song. Released at the peak of bro u . S . A .’s reputation, the album turned into a welcome go back to craft-primarily based musicianship and harkened again to a more conventional united states sound, some thing fanatics then found only at the fringes of the style. 

And then, of path, there was that voice. While Stapleton developed a cult following as part of the bluegrass institution the SteelDrivers, new enthusiasts quick hopped aboard the bandwagon after listening to his soulful take at the united states traditional “Tennessee Whiskey,” or the smoldering ballad “Fire Away.” Since then, Stapleton has turn out to be a juggernaut of the genre, winning dozens of awards and paving the way for more youthful like-minded artists like Luke Combs and Jelly Roll.

On his fifth album, Higher, that is out on Nov. 10, Stapleton takes some thing of an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach. Once once more, he enlists common collaborator Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, John Prine) to co-produce the LP, this time along him and his wife, singer-songwriter Morgane Stapleton. He also taps a handful of Music Row’s finest players to sign up for the court cases, which includes pedal metal legend Paul Franklin (George Strait, Vince Gill) and next-gen piano/organ whiz Lee Pardini (Dawes, Roger Waters), with Stapleton dealing with acoustic, electric powered and slide guitars. That familiar setup doesn’t imply the report is a re-tread of familiar territory, even though, as Stapleton is looser, bolder and surer of himself, a recipe making this his fine undertaking yet. 

Higher opens with “What Am I Gonna Do,” a Miranda Lambert co-write that makes you wish the pair labored together extra often. Gently rootsy manufacturing from Cobb serves as a lush bed for his or her story of romantic regret, which Stapleton provides with a stability of bruised craving and diffused resignation. “South Dakota” may be an extended-misplaced Allman Brothers Band b-aspect, with its swampy groove and Stapleton’s dusky drawl underscoring the “hassle [that] ain’t tough to find” on the coronary heart of the music. Stapleton’s fretwork on “South Dakota” is mainly tasty, too, as he favors drawn-out bends and brief, searing prospers over virtuosic pyrotechnics.