Chase Rice
puts a vintage picture of his father on the cover of
I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go to Hell
, a record he calls his "first full album since 2017," a formulation that somehow bypasses a 2021 release that was actually titled
The Album
. His phrasing underscores how this 2023 LP is a personal one for him, dedicated to a father who died back in 2008 because
Rice
feels it's the first album that would make his dad proud. All this is a shorthand to say that
has dialed down the sunny, oversized elements of his music, the traits that served him well when he was writing hits for bro-country pioneers
Florida Georgia Line
.
still sings about good times and booze -- one of the livelier moments on the record is "Bad Day to Be a Cold Beer" -- but there's a melancholy breeze blowing throughout
, a record that's named after a pair of the album's moodier cuts.
wears his newly acquired pensive gaze well: he sounds sincere in these stripped-back arrangements. He also sounds good playing with the neo-Southern rockers
Read Southall Band
and, especially, singing with
Boy Named Banjo
on "Goodnight Nancy," one of the other rare lighthearted moments on
. If
does tend to overcorrect his steering here, heading toward po-faced earnestness, the album nevertheless does point the singer/songwriter in the right direction, toward music that will wear well as he eases into middle age. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine