Lady Antebellum, Ocean Album Review
Lady Antebellum is here with Ocean, a 13-song album with all of the signature touches country music fans have come to love and expect from the award-winning trio.
The trio has created a reputation of greatness in their career. They have hits and awards. They’ve headlined sold-out tours and won the hearts of country fans. They’ve done it with ballads and bangers. And they’re showing us on Ocean that none of that is changing now.
It’s been nearly two and a half years since Lady A released Heart Break, the #1 album that received CMA, ACM, and Grammy nominations, and ya, we wish the break hadn’t been that long. But, as they say, some things are worth the wait.
Fans of Lady Antebellum have had the chance to get ready for the new album with the release of six of the 13 songs over the last few months. First, we got What If I Never Get Over You, and most recently (on Wednesday of release week), Be Patient With My Love. Usually, we’d tell you that getting six teaser/early release songs is too many. But with a total tracklist of more than double that, there’s no shortage of new listens to be surprised and wowed by on release day.
Ocean also represents the start of a new chapter for Lady Antebellum. They’ve got a new label (BMLG Records) and worked with a new producer (Dann Huff) to make the record. But, while it may be a new chapter behind the scenes, the voices, arrangements, feelings, and finished product are exactly what Lady Antebellum is loved for and does best.
Speaking with Apple Music, Hillary said, “This collection of 13 songs we could have never recorded before now, because what we’re talking about is just so present for us where we are.”, and Charles added that Ocean is a “more open and honest and vulnerable” album from the group.
Want to listen to stories for three minutes or so at a time, this record has got you. Let a song like What If I Never Get Over You or Pictures or Be Patient With Me Love take you away from wherever you are and drop you right into a new set of emotions and imagery.
And if you want to groove and stay upbeat, Ocean has got you covered too. Start with You Can Do You, catch the upswing on Alright, and sing along with a smile on your face.
We also need to take a minute to bask in the glow of The Thing That Wrecks You featuring Little Big Town. For a decade, these two acts have been at or near the very top of the game in country music. And now, we get them together at last. Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook come together and it’s a four-and-a-half-minute flood of beautiful voices. This feels like one of those collaborations that I knew I wanted, but never thought I was going to get. And the result does everything I hoped it would.
In the end, this is the Lady Antebellum album we hoped we’d get. It hits all of the notes and beats we have grown to crave from them. And in short: It’s good.
Hit play on Ocean now, listen through the 47-minute album, and enjoy!
Lady Antebellum, Ocean Tracklist
1. What If I Never Get Over You
2. Pictures
3. Crazy Love
4. You Can Do You
5. What I’m Leaving For
6. Be Patient With My Love
7. Alright
8. Let It Be Love
9. On A Night Like This
10. Boots
11. The Thing That Wrecks You (ft. Little Big Town)
12. Mansion
13. Ocean
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