Chris Stapleton
"Starting Over"
(Mercury (ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK))
An old joke asks: What happens when you play a country song backward? Your spouse comes back, you get released from prison and your dead dog returns to life.
Chris Stapleton's sound owes at least as much to blues-rock, but he's still categorized as a country artist. And though no one spends time in jail on "Starting Over," the 14-song album does feature many a relationship in disrepair, and one prominently featured dead dog.
That would be in "Maggie's Song," a first-class weeper about with chord changes reminiscent of The Band's "The Weight." It leads the burly-voiced singer to a revelation as he's digging a grave for his four-legged friend: "I can tell you right now that a dog has a soul."
Stapleton has risen to stardom on the strength of his old-fashioned virtues. His songs are sturdy, never slick or corny. Sometimes he lays cliches on thick, as in the brawny blues rip "Whiskey Sunrise." But he has excellent taste, including two songs by masterful Texas tunesmith Guy Clark and one by John Fogerty.
"Starting Over" was recorded with ace Nashville producer Dave Cobb, with help from Tom Petty guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboard player Benmont Tench. And Morgane Stapleton adds honeyed harmony to her husband's powerhouse (but impressively nuanced) vocals.
Recorded before the pandemic, "Starting Over" is well-suited to a shutdown. "Got a good job," Stapleton sings on "When I'm With You," a midlife crisis romance. "And I'm thankful to be working when so many good people are not."
The minimalist cover has a back-to-the-drawing-board vibe, but in fact the album excels by leaning into familiar Stapleton home truths. That's the case on his wistful take on Clark's "Old Friends" and the Muscle Shoals soul groove of "You Should Probably Leave." It's as comforting as sinking down into the sofa with your good-old dog by your side. — Dan DeLuca
