Effectively his introduction to a wide audience -- it's his second album on a major but first to be thoroughly polished, right down to the inclusion of cameos --
Whitsitt Chapel
finds
Jelly Roll
planting a stake firmly in the heart of country music. Much of his shift is due to how
Ballads of the Broken
, his 2021 mini-LP, landed a hit with "Son of a Sinner," a slow-burning outlaw anthem placed in soft enough focus to appeal to those listeners who have no stomach for the gaudy bounce of hick-hop. With its very title,
appears thoroughly country and
plays with this theme throughout the record, emphasizing the sacred/profane connection by littering the album with tunes like "Halfway to Hell," "Church," "Dancing with the Devil," and "Hungover in a Church Pew." He still swears, he still sings to electronic rhythms, he still brings old rap friends
Struggle Jennings
and
Yelawolf
aboard for cameos, but he also finds space for country singers
Brantley Gilbert
Lainey Wilson
, all in an attempt to steer himself squarely toward the moody country mainstream.
not only seems kinder than, say,
Jason Aldean
, he seems earnest: his range may be limited but his delivery is sincere, and that lack of affectation reads as country even when the sound veers closer to post-grunge malls than backwoods honky tonk. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine