KEITH URBAN
"Graffiti U"
BOTTOM LINE: Pushing country's boundaries again, but keeping his own intact.
Watch Keith Urban play guitar in concert and you see an artist transported by the music he makes.
Listen to Urban sing, though, and he seems more restrained, especially on his new album, "Graffiti U" (Hit Red / Capitol Nashville), and its equally eclectic predecessor, the hit-filled "Ripcord." That's not to say "Grafitti U" isn't well-crafted, though, or that his goal of weaving pop, rock and dance music into country isn't worthy.
The current single, "Coming Home," shows how it all works, with Urban sampling a bit of Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried" to put some twang in the dance groove. When Grammy-nominated pop singer-songwriter Julia Michaels joins in, it becomes a sweetly effective combination of styles. On "Never Comin' Down," Urban moves from funky verses to a banjo-picking, good-time chorus and even takes an Afrobeat detour in the bridge. The lovely "Same Heart" starts off with some icy electronics in the verses before warming up in the chorus.
However, sometimes you can almost hear Urban's anxiety as he leaves his comfort zone. He seems like he's trying hard to keep up on "Way Too Long," struggling to hit notes in the poppier keys and tempos that co-writers Michaels and Nate Ruess usually use. On "Parallel Line," co-written by Michaels and Ed Sheeran, Urban seems wary of the sparseness of the song and fills all the space with countermelodies and echoing vocals that detract from the immediacy and rawness of Sheeran's best work. Similarly, the impact of Urban's #MeToo anthem "Female" is blunted by the torrent of images in the chorus while the stark verses made his point so powerfully.
Trying new things is admirable. But when Urban is on familiar ground, as he is on the future singalong "Steal My Thunder," he shows how far his experiments have to go to reach his usual stellar level.
SPEEDY ORTIZ
"Twerp Verse"
BOTTOM LINE Finding the sweetness in these dark times or maybe the other way around.
Speedy Ortiz's singer-guitarist Sadie Dupuis has one of those instantly likable voices that conjures up sweet thoughts and sunshine.
She is also crafty enough to know she can use that gift to tackle weighty issues in a powerful way, something she does masterfully in the band's new "Twerp Verse" (Carpark) album.
Dupuis said she scrapped an album's worth of new material because it was too "lovey-dovey" for the current political climate and the band wrote most of "Twerp Verse" in the months following the 2016 election. The results make the most of her vocal charms and the gritty atmospherics generated by guitarist Andy Moholt, drummer Mike Falcone, and bassist Darl Ferm.
The harrowing personal tale of sexual harassment "Villain" may get the most attention, but the intricacies of "Lucky 88" is just as gripping a story, as is the grungy "Alone With Girls."
On "You Hate the Title," Speedy Ortiz delivers the album's catchiest track as Dupuis claps back against those who complain about songs, even while seemingly enjoying them. It's a glorious misdirection that's as effective as the rest of "Twerp Verse."
