Songs I'm Listening To - September 2014

Here's a taste of some of my favourite tunes this month!

Jimmy Barnes (Feat. Keith Urban) - "Good Times"

The Easybeats classic that Jimmy covered with INXS back in the day has been re-covered with country superstar Keith Urban. It's another powerful track from Barney's 30:30 Hindsight album, following the searing "Lay Down Your Guns" with the Living End. 

 

Not surprisingly, the album debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts this month. 

Chris Lane - "Broken Windshield View"

A former college baseball star who saw his shot at the MLB end due to an injury is the latest country rocker to be noticed by acclaimed producer Joey Moi - responsible for, amongst other things, discovering Florida Georgia Line and producing Jake Owen's monster hit "Barefoot Blue Jean Night" - and I've had Lane's debut track on high rotation this month.

The recently-released film clip fits the song perfectly, depicting Lane driving a pick-up truck around Kernersville, North Carolina, looking at the road through, yep, you guessed it, a broken windshield. The last third of the clip intersperses recent concert footage. This guy is going places, and will release his debut album for Big Loud Mountain Records, the label the all-conquering Florida Georgia Line are signed to. There's a lot of that rock-leaning FGL sound in "Broken Windshield View", proof that Moi's fingerprints are all over Lane's debut. A killer track!

Garth Brooks - "Friends In Low Places"

After years in retirement, Garth Brooks, one of the most successful recording artists in music history, is back with a new world tour, an upcoming new album and, best of all, a bundled digital release of his back catalogue at the new GhostTunes website for an insanely cheap price of $30. What's not to like about that?

Brooks's biggest hit, "Friends in Low Places" is one of country's all-time great drinking songs, and comes from his 1990 release No Fences. Entering the Billboard country chart on August 18, 1990. It took just eight weeks to go #1, where it remained for a month, long enough to make it one of the biggest hits of the year. Still a cool song all these years later!

Train - "Bulletproof Picasso"

The title track from Train's latest album is also one of the strongest cuts on the entire release. You don't fix what isn't broke, so "Bulletproof Picasso" is cut from the same cloth as so many of the band's previous hits. Catchy tune, with a nice, hooky chorus and Pat Monahan's voice is as good as ever.

Blake Shelton - "Neon Light"

September and October are good months for country music fans in 2014, with Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line and Blake Shelton all releasing new and highly-anticipated albums.Shelton's new break-up anthem is catchy from the outset, with a hooky chorus and a positive song that is less about the doldrums of being trapped in those post-relationship blues and more about getting on with life. The film clip consists mostly of live footage, and accurately shows what a real party a Shelton concert is.

 

Recently, Shelton said that he has to get back to "singing about getting drunk", and promises that his new album, Bringing Back the Sunshine, will be a grittier album, and less positive than his two recent chart-toppers, which found The Voice judge in a good place, after marrying 

Interestingly, he also says of his style on this new release: "We're pushing boundaries...and pushing 'em and pushing 'em. And to me, it's like I'm bringing back some country into this thing!" Can't wait.

“We’re pushing boundaries … and pushing ‘em and pushing ‘em,” he says. “And to me, with that title, it’s like I’m bringing back some country into this thing.”

Read More: Blake Shelton: 'Gotta Get Back to Singing Bout Gettin Drunk' | http://tasteofcountry.com/blake-shelton-sunshine-album-getting-drunk/?trackback=tsmclip

“We’re pushing boundaries … and pushing ‘em and pushing ‘em,” he says. “And to me, with that title, it’s like I’m bringing back some country into this thing.”

Read More: Blake Shelton: 'Gotta Get Back to Singing Bout Gettin Drunk' | http://tasteofcountry.com/blake-shelton-sunshine-album-getting-drunk/?trackback=tsmclip

“We’re pushing boundaries … and pushing ‘em and pushing ‘em,” he says. “And to me, with that title, it’s like I’m bringing back some country into this thing.”

Read More: Blake Shelton: 'Gotta Get Back to Singing Bout Gettin Drunk' | http://tasteofcountry.com/blake-shelton-sunshine-album-getting-drunk/?trackback=tsmclip

“We’re pushing boundaries … and pushing ‘em and pushing ‘em,” he says. “And to me, with that title, it’s like I’m bringing back some country into this thing.”

Read More: Blake Shelton: 'Gotta Get Back to Singing Bout Gettin Drunk' | http://tasteofcountry.com/blake-shelton-sunshine-album-getting-drunk/?trackback=tsmclip

“We’re pushing boundaries … and pushing ‘em and pushing ‘em,” he says. “And to me, with that title, it’s like I’m bringing back some country into this thing.”

Read More: Blake Shelton: 'Gotta Get Back to Singing Bout Gettin Drunk' | http://tasteofcountry.com/blake-shelton-sunshine-album-getting-drunk/?trackback=tsmclip