They Don't Know

settles into his slow stride on 2016's , his seventh studio set. Facing the onset of his forties, chooses to pivot off of the smoldering moments of 2014's , a slow-churning intensity achieved partially through a sly adoption of electronic rhythms. On , largely strips away such nods toward modernity, adding some loops to lead track (and lead single) "Lights Come On," an ode toward hitting a big country concert at the end of a hard work week -- a number designed as a rocker but proceeding at the same deliberate tempo as the power ballads that dominate the album, including "When the Lights Go Out," which cleverly closes . Often, the question of rocking hinges on a matter of volume: the party songs are slightly louder due to the preponderance of guitars, not due to quicker rhythms or any suggestion of chaos. It's comfortable ground for and, strikingly, he sounds comfortable too, never singing with an audible scowl. He seems settled in his skin, knowing he's at his best in a maudlin minor key, and that shift is welcome even if it accidentally accentuates just how slowly plods. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine