Originally from Medicine Hat, Canada, MacKenzie Porter started out as an actress before moving into country music. She’s topped the Canada Country charts four times, as well as having a Billboard Country number one hit with her Dustin Lynch collaboration ‘Thinkin’ ‘Bout You’. Now she’s released her major label debut album, ‘Nobody’s Born With A Broken Heart’.
The 19-track record opens with ‘Easy To Miss’, which sees Porter reminiscing on a breakup and not being quite able to let go yet. It’s a twangy, pop-influenced track with quick vocal delivery from Porter, who showcases the drawl in her voice before lifting into a sweet, rich quality on the chorus. There’s a breathiness to it that’s reminiscent of 90s R’n’B, but what really struck me was the emotion she puts into it. For a song that on the surface sounds light and fluffy, there’s real emotion here that makes it very easy to connect with her and goes beyond just being a straightforward pop-country tune.
That’s something that runs through this project, with Porter frequently packing her songs with as many words as you feel like she can cram into three minutes and then some. The soft, wistful ‘Young At Heart’ gives her an early chance to show off her vocal belt with its soaring chorus, tempo changes and lyrical twist, whilst ‘Coming Home To You’ is a warm, heartfelt love song that’s full of details about sticky back doors and scratched hardwood. Elsewhere, she shows her playful side on ‘Bet You Break My Heart’, a slinky, tongue-in-cheek track with a gliding vocal, as well on the stripped-back ‘Wrong One Yet’ (which thematically echoes Megan Moroney’s ‘Tennessee Orange’) and the pulsing singalong ‘Pickup’.
For me some of the strongest moments on the record come when Porter tries something a bit different. ‘Rough Ride For A Cowboy’ is a rattling, dramatic tune with biting delivery as Porter turns the tables on a reckless ex, whilst ‘Strong Things’ sees her exploring a sultry Western sound through a sparse shuffling melody and ‘Less Is More’ incorporates electronic and dance elements alongside references to Houston skies being ‘painted by the hand of God’ before coming back down to earth through a ‘crayon Mona Lisa’. Meanwhile, the sassy ‘Have Your Beer’ has some great rock guitar flourishes, ‘Walk Away’ channels classic Carrie Underwood kiss-offs with its powerful sense of swager and spoken word sections, and ‘Chasing Tornadoes’ brilliantly captures the sense of being reckless and carefree when you first fall for someone with its thumping drums and big vocals from Porter.
That said, for a complete change of pace, I particularly enjoyed her expressing a quiet confidence on tracks like the lush ‘Pay Me Back In Change’, dreamy old-school tribute to young love ‘Along Those Lines’ and ‘Confession’, a piano-led number which puts the emphasis on her raw vocals as she delivers the brutally frank lyrics about taking the blame for a relationship breakdown (‘you’ve been my hardest lesson’ being a standout line). One of the strongest examples of this is ‘Nightingale’, an ode to a ‘blonde haired girl [with] holes in her jeans’ that features a bright fiddle melody and has a uplifting, almost spiritual quality to it. I also really liked ‘Sucker Punch’, a yearning number which sees Porter reflecting on an ex moving on. It’s got some fantastic storytelling and there’s something about Porter’s delivery that makes it surprisingly emotional.
Porter closes the album with the title track, and it’s arguably the most personal song of the lot. With references to her date of birth and the damage that life can do to a person (such as parents divorcing), the mellow guitar and introspective lyrics work really well with her delicate vocals and high notes. It ends the album on a note of uncertain optimism, looking to the future of opening up to a new love, and there’s a joyfulness about it that makes it feel really touching and genuine.
Overall MacKenzie Porter has delivered a strong introduction to her sound on ‘Nobody’s Born With A Broken Heart’. It’s definitely pop-country, but her vocal skills and ability as both a songwriter and an interpreter really shine through as she makes every one of these songs completely believable and infuses them with an unexpected depth. Although it does suffer slightly from being a bit repetitive and could probably have saved a few tracks for a deluxe edition, there’s definitely a lot to like here and I’m very excited to see where she goes next.
Track listing: 1. Easy To Miss 2. Young At Heart 3. Bet You Break My Heart 4. Pay Me Back In Change 5. Rough Ride For A Cowboy 6. Coming Home To You 7. Strong Things 8. Confession 9. Wrong One Yet 10. Pickup 11. Nightingale 12. Have Your Beer 13. Sucker Punch 14. Walk Away 15. Foreclosure 16. Less Is More 17. Along Those Lines 18. Chasing Tornadoes 19. Nobody’s Born With A Broken Heart Record label: Big Loud Records Release date: 26th April 2024
