B Luke Bryan
Kill the Lights
Capitol Nashville
On the songs "Fast" and "Way Way Back," from Luke Bryan's new album, the perpetually upbeat star takes his first steps toward acknowledging the complexities that come with maturity.
Country music's reigning entertainer of the year, Bryan fills stadiums with rhythm-driven, good-time songs about partying, friendship, love and the rural lifestyle. He doesn't divert far from that path on his fifth album: songs like the escapist hit "Kick the Dust Up" and the down-home "Huntin', Fishin' and Lovin' Every Day" could fit on any Bryan collection.
At age 39, however, the Georgia native is expanding his themes and sound, with help from longtime producer Jeff Stevens and his son, Jody Stevens. Bryan loads the album with seductive love songs: "Strip It Down," "Love It Gone" and "Home Alone Tonight," an engaging duet with Little Big Town's Karen Fairchild, all deal with moving an evening from social to sexual. He also tackles disappointment on "Razor Blade" and nostalgia for his youth on "Fast."
Bryan isn't taking any big left turns, but he is showing he can grow in ways that reflect his age and experience.
Hot tracks: "Home Alone Tonight," "Kick the Dust Up," "Way Way Back."
-- MICHAEL McCALL, The Associated Press
A- Richard Thompson
Still
Fantasy
Jeff Tweedy's sympathetic, minimalist production allows RT's considerable virtues (genius guitar craft, brilliant songwriting, immaculate taste) to ring through on this typically excellent collection from everyone's favorite underrated genius.
It's marred only slightly by Thompson's fondness for jokey throwaways (the offenders this time are "Long John Silver," a ditty worth hearing once, and "Beatnik Walking," which is tolerably sweet). Thompson is the rare combination of monster guitar player -- he taps into a deep reservoir of folk and blues, making synaptic connections between Appalachian and British traditions, his electric lines holding these pieces together like silver stitching -- and wise, self-deprecating grown-up who knows precisely how silly (and serious) it all is.
Hot tracks: "She Never Could Resist a Winding Road," "All Buttoned Up," "Broken Doll."
A Dr. Dre
Compton: A Soundtrack
Aftermath/Interscope
Dr. Dre's new album doesn't just unfold, it charges forward -- a barreling mass of relentless beats and lyrical strong-arming that amounts to much more than anyone could have expected from a hip-hop legend whose last solo album hit shelves in 1999.
Dre has not lost his edge, nor has he lost his touch.
"Murder this, murder listen, hit a suburban whippin'," Dre spits on "Genocide."
The man can still rap. Fellow veterans Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg deliver perhaps their hardest verses in recent memory on "Issues" and "One Shot, One Kill," respectively. But Dre's outstanding production -- with help from Dem Jointz, DJ Dahi, Focus, and more -- is what makes Compton enthralling. Verses from Kendrick Lamar and newcomer King Mez also shake things up.
Anger is ever-present on Compton, but there's reflection, too. "Animals," which counts DJ Premier among its producers, captures that emotion and puts things into perspective. "Still tryna figure out, why the (expletive) I'm full of rage," Dre raps, later adding, "Just a young black man from Compton wondering who could save us."
It is a question that needed answering at the start of Dre's career, and it is a question that could use an answer now.
Available in stores and online starting Friday.
Hot tracks: "Animals," "Genocide," "Issues."
-- MELANIE J. SIMS, The Associated Press
B Warren Haynes
Ashes and Dust
Concord
Best known as the hard-working guitarist for two venerable Southern jam bands -- Gov't Mule and the late-model Allman Brothers Band -- Warren Haynes apparently also has a deep connection to acoustic folk music. He works out those impulses with the help of New Jersey-based Americana outfit Railroad Earth on his latest solo effort -- his first since 2011's R&B-centric Man in Motion.
The results aren't bad, though Haynes probably shouldn't give up his Gov't Mule gig anytime soon (he recently announced he's leaving the ABB). While there's a certain earnest populism to Haynes' material, the best cut is a cover of "Gold Dust Woman" with Haynes harmonizing with Grace Potter. (Shawn Colvin also has a sparkling guest turn on Haynes' "Wanderlust.")
Hot tracks: "Gold Dust Woman," "Wanderlust."
Style on 08/18/2015