2015 CD Reviews - Kristian Bush - Southern Gravity

Kristian Bush

Southern Gravity

Streamsound Records - 2015

http://www.kristianbush.com

If you hop into the way back machine to the year 1995, you'll find that is the year that I "discovered" the duo Billy Pilgrim. They had released their 2nd album which was entitled Bloom. It had a modest hit called "Sweet Louisiana Sound" that got a lot of airplay on a local radio station due in large part to the fact the group was coming to play in the area.

Kristian Bush was one half of that duo and Bloom remains to this day one of the most perfect albums I've ever heard. No, it didn't go on to become a mega-selling success or anything but perfection is often sought (as a baseball pitcher) and rarely if ever attained. Billy Pilgrim did it on their 2nd try.

But after that, the duo kind of disappeared from my radar screen. Oh, I still listened (and still do) to Bloom often, but it wasn't until I heard that they'd split up that I caught up with them.

Fast forward to 2004 and I started to hear a song on country radio called "Something More" by a brand new trio called Sugarland. Lo and behold, one of the members of the group was Kristian Bush. I was pretty excited to see one of the Billy Pilgrim "boys" back in the spotlight. With the extremely catchy songs and fiery twang of singer Jennifer Nettles, Sugarland was an instant success. The trio soon became a duo but that didn't stop them from becoming one of the most popular acts in country music and churning out albums that captured the hearts and minds of country listeners everywhere.

Last year, Jennifer Nettles stepped away (for a bit or forever is still unclear) from the group to record her debut solo album That Girl.

So what would become of Kristian Bush? Well, according to his essay in the liner notes for the Southern Gravity, he went on a musical journey himself. The resulting efforts are summed up with the release of his own solo CD. And it is really a sweet deal here. In Sugarland, let's face it, he was overshadowed by Jennifer Nettles. I don't mean that as a bad thing but with her being the lead singer, it struck me as if Bush was kind of in the background at times.

No such worries on Southern Gravity. The creation of this music was a collaboration between Bush and a variety of contributors. But Bush was strongly involved. He co-wrote each of the 12 songs on the disc, played some of the instruments and co-produced the album as well. This is definitely HIS solo album. I also liked that in the liner notes, each song listed had a brief note about it from Bush.

The first single from the disc, "Trailer Hitch," had an up tempo jangly country vibe to it as you might imagine. The song talks about not getting all wrapped up in material things because you can't take it with you when you go. A topical conversational point wrapped up in a bouncy little number. But then of course you see the crazy as anything video (see below) and think...WHAT? The video is actually kind of funny but so does not fit the lyrical content of the track.

While the album is branded as a country release, there are flourishes of a more pop or light rock orientation on some of the songs here. The opening cut on the disc is called "Make Another Memory" and I found it to be more of a pop song than country. The chorus is incredibly catchy too:

Hey baby let the world go round

You can spin it on your finger I'll slow down

count the stars above til we fall asleep

then wake up and make another memory

The song "Light Me Up" talks about being loved and being changed by that love. The song was surprisingly "loud" and was an effective blend of both the pop and country genres.

I know that songs that also serve as the title of an album are usually an emotional center point for the artist, but for me I didn't really fall into "Southern Gravity" as much as I probably should have. I also found "Feeling Fine in California" and "Sweet Love" not to my liking.

But enough of the negative, because there is so much here to enjoy. "Flip Flops" is an ode to a drunken walkabout as a man tries to find his way back to his hotel room. The use of "Flip Flops" as a song title and lyrical flashpoint sounds a little odd until you actually listen to the song.

The lyrics as a whole are outstanding. The opening line itself is a classic worthy of all-time greatness: "I ran into a wall of liquor tonight". The chorus is well done too:

Just trying to stay on top of my flip flops

at least until this old world stops

spinning, spinning

People in the bars all laugh when I pass

They're laying down bets that I'll bust my ass

It looks like a mile but I've only gotta make it one

more block

Just trying to stay on top of my flip flops

On slower songs like "Sending You A Sunset", the softer nature of Bush's music comes through quite naturally and without seeming artificial. His voice conveys the lyrics but never fails to give them an extra dose of feeling. You feel his connection to what he's singing about and that in turn makes the material connect with you as well.

This also serves the album's closing track "House on a Beach" superbly as well. It is almost a wishful wish list for seeking out a simpler life. The song was inspired by a dream that Bush has had in the past and the depth of feeling to the performance nearly envelopes you the listener into wanting that very same house on the beach as well.

For me, everything comes down to the song "Walk Tall". I make no secret of the fact that when it comes to music I'm mostly a rock and heavy metal fan. But on "Walk Tall", I think I have my first serious contender for Song of the Year. This song is just fantastic and the lyrics are utterly absorbing. Also, the liner note from Bush really helps to set up the song. He writes: "It's not what you do when people are watching that matters, it's what you do when there is no one around". While variations upon that theme have been around since time immemorial, the intentional use of that here helps power what is, lyrically, to come.

I love when a song's lyrics resonate with me and again, this song's chorus did just that:

Yeah we all walk tall in the daylight

Yeah we all walk tall when it feels right

If you ever wanna be a man

If you ever wanna be a rebel

You gotta walk tall in the moonlight

It seems like such a simple message or idea, but sometimes you forget these things until an artist reminds you. And on "Walk Tall", it is Kristian Bush's turn to do that very thing.

So what is my overall impression of this album?

That's pretty easy to describe. With Southern Gravity, Kristian Bush steps into the spotlight mindful of his Billy Pilgrim and Sugarland past. But expands his horizons to offer up a collection of songs that came out of his own musical journey to the benefit of music lovers everywhere.

Southern Gravity mixes the fun and frivolity with subtle reminders of topical concerns and does it in a way that makes you eagerly await for what Kristian Bush will come up with next.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by RJhog (Admin) on June 30, 2015 at 7:44am

Nice review TR. I'll try to check out that video lately. I'm a classic rock fan, but I'm also a fan of "some" country music. Your initial description of pop meets country doesn't give me any confidence in this release. That's because that is a description of this awful, awful thing called bro country. It's horrible. But your song description says it may not be bro country after all.

I may try to check more of this out. Right now I'm listening to a good bit of Americana music, which certainly is closer to the country realm than the rock realm, though it can have elements of both (along with bluegrass, folk, soul and many other genres). Truth be told, I listen to Americana music for the lyrics.