Capitol Records Nashville



It was just over eight years ago that Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood first came together to form Lady Antebellum. Three years later they made a massive commercial impact with the chart-topping single I Run To You, followed by a further eight chart-toppers and gold and platinum selling albums. They are also one of the few American country acts to make a major pop breakthrough in the UK. Throughout, they have consistently created quality pop-country music full of inventive lyrics and intricate vocal arrangements. Having set themselves such high standards, they must live and die by them, and the once quiet road they strode down alone has since become a noisy thoroughfare. Endless touring, media demands along with the emergence of similarly styled groups and the pressure of matching their most recent successes can take its toll on an act, but one listen to 747, Lady Antebellum’s sixth album, showcases an act still very much at the peak of their creativity.
Their music has a great energy to it with infectious, sing-along choruses and refrains; organic, infectious American pop-country. This is music with a refreshing immediacy to it. The songs are sequenced just right, with some good up-tempo numbers followed by quieter ballads. Yes, I know this type of sequencing is rote, but I think it’s done for a reason and in this case, since all the songs are keepers, it works wonders. Once again the trio have worked with some of Music Row’s finest writers on many of the songs including their most recent chart-topper Bartender. Sung by Hillary, this is a swampy, sultry break-up anthem washing a former lover’s memory away with whiskey on a wild girls’ night out. There’s a slight Shania Twain opening to Freestyle, then a funky arrangement comes to the fore on this frisky rock-flavoured track. Surprisingly, they follow that with Down South, the most ‘country-ish’ track on the album. With fiddle, mandolin, banjo and bazouki all mixed into the buoyant arrangement and the down-home lyrics this one should resonate with the more die-hard country fans.

The dynamic 747 title track has this pushing, driving spirit whilst other songs incorporate youthful edge (She Is) and energy (Long Stretch Of Love) with seasoned songwriters’ elegance (Damn You Seventeen). Throughout this album the writing and performance is top drawer. Even better is the knowledge that Lady Antebellum’s songs bloom most fully in concert, where the full-throated, multi-part harmonies can reach full roar and the intoxicating clatter behind them blows forth like a summer wind sweeping through the tall grain. The moment the record fires up straight through to the finale, you are at the foot of the stage, drink in hand, your head ringing with reverberation.

www.ladyantebellum.com

November 2014