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ERNEST – ‘FLOWER SHOPS (THE ALBUM): Two Dozen Roses’ album review

Nashville native Ernest Keith Smith – better known by his first name – got his start in country music as a songwriter for the likes of Morgan Wallen, Florida Georgia Line, Chris Lane and Sam Hunt. Since signing a recording contract in 2019, he’s released two albums – most recently 2021’s ‘FLOWER SHOPS (THE ALBUM)’, which features a duet with Wallen as the title track. Now he’s releasing a deluxe edition of the record, subtitled ‘Two Dozen Roses’ and extending to a whopping 24 songs.

The album opens with ‘Sucker For Small Towns’, which very much sets the tone for the next hour and 20 minutes. It’s a retro, 70s-influenced track with some nice modern rock touches and a lovely sun-soaked quality, as well as being packed with details and wordplay (‘I’m a fool for a full moon’ being just one of my favourite lyrics on this record). ERNEST delivers the song effortlessly in his distinctive drawl and it feels like a great start to the album.

To take the project as two halves of a whole, on the original 10 tracks (well 11 if you count the superior acoustic version of ‘Flower Shops’) there’s a really strong narrative thread running through the whole thing. In particular the section from the weighty ‘Feet Wanna Run’, with its guitar line straight from an old Western movie and shimmering outro, through to ‘Flower Shops’ is a highlight for me. There’s a great flow between the tracks – particularly the frank, plaintive ‘Comfortable When I’m Crazy’ and the emotion and warmth of ‘Flower Shops’, which also sees ERNEST throw in some impressive vocal tricks – and I feel he captures the sense of conflict between wanting to settle down and being free absolutely perfectly, with the pull of both options evident in his wistful vocals.

Elsewhere in the first half, ‘Tennessee Queen’ showcases ERNEST’s smart songwriting brilliantly, littered with Elvis references and featuring a gorgeous romantic melody, whilst ‘Classic’ lives up to its title, highlighting his soulful side against a sultry, bluesy groove. I also loved ‘Did It With You’ with its ‘Boys of Summer’-inspired riff, as well as the knowing ‘What It’s Come To’ – a clever take on bro-country clichés – the bittersweet, reflective ‘If You Were Whiskey’ and ‘Some Other Bar’, with its mellow, pop-influenced vibe and soaring vocals. The whole album has a timeless quality that really stands out for me and I think it’s why I warmed to the record so easily – you genuinely feel like you could have listened to this in any era, but without it feeling overly nostalgic or saccharine.

Moving onto the newer tracks, already you can tell there’s a change in tone from the honky-tonk sound of ‘This Fire’. Whilst treading on themes covered earlier in the record – specifically how addiction can lead to losing good things in life and choosing the thrill of the now over future stability – the rollicking chorus, tempo switches and big vocals from ERNEST give you a devil-may-care feeling that lingers in the back half of the project. In a way it almost feels like he’s playing a character, who knows what he’s doing and doesn’t care anyway. ‘Nothin’ To Lose’ is another example of this, with its sense of ‘can’t stop won’t stop’ in the lyrics and some very impressive high notes.

That said, there’s still a place for those more relaxed, romantic numbers. The upbeat, affectionate ‘Hill’ echoes back to ‘Classic’ with its reference to a house built in 1963 – the same date as the baby blue Mustang of the earlier song. Meanwhile, the moving ‘Songs We Used To Sing’ shows off the gravelly edge and depth in ERNEST’s voice and ‘Done At A Bar’, a tale of a drunk-dialling old lover who swears they’ve changed, has a throwback feel and a singalong chorus you don’t often hear in these types of songs. I really like how ERNEST plays with these tropes throughout the album; it’s something not many artists would take the risk to do and he pulls it off very well indeed.

One standout aspect from the newer tracks is ERNEST showing off his fun, playful side midway through. The Hawaiian-sounding ‘Drunk With My Friends’ delivers some laugh-out-loud moments and a chorus that practically demands a crowd to sing along to it, before ‘Anything But Sober’ pairs a bright melody with deceptively dark, tongue-in-cheek lyrics about not being able to quit the drugs and booze. The two featured tracks are also standouts, with Dean Dillon’s voice providing a nice balance to ERNEST’s on the raw, heartstring-tugging ‘What Have I Got To Lose’, whilst ‘Heartache In My 100 Proof’ (featuring Jake Worthington) delivers an immediate, punchy groove alongside wry lyrics about being a ‘bluer shade of blue’ than the bar’s neon lights – a recurring image throughout the album. It might be a song about drowning your sorrows, but you’ll have a lot of fun doing it with these two.

ERNEST closes out the album with ‘Unhang The Moon’, a delicate, gentle song with a twist which sees him wishing he could undo the affection he showed an ex who’s moved on, before moving into recent release ‘Miss That Girl’. For me this track sums up a lot of the project, pairing a catchy singalong melody and sense of trying to brush off an old relationship through partying with sharp guitars and lyrical details that instantly place you in the song’s Silverado. It’s a really different note to end a record like this one and definitely leaves you feeling like you want to go back to the beginning already.

Overall ERNEST has followed up what was already one of the best albums of recent years with a slew of new tracks that show why he’s one of the hottest acts in Nashville right now. Balancing perfectly crafted songs that show off a wide range of styles and with quality vocals to boot, he’s absolutely leading the pack in terms of country artists marrying old and new sounds and this will only serve to further cement his position there. In fact a lot of this record gave me modern day George Strait vibes – a phrase I’m aware is thrown around a lot, but on this occasion it’s definitely warranted! If I had one criticism, it does drag slightly in the middle when listening to it as a whole piece and I’m not sure if it would have been better to release the new songs as a standalone project (though I’ll fully admit I miss the days of 15 tracks being the absolute maximum on an album). But overall, it’s a standout body of work from an artist who’s at the top of his game as a songwriter, and someone I hope we see over on this side of the pond very soon.

Track listing: 1. Sucker For Small Towns 2. Tennessee Queen 3. Classic 4. Feet Wanna Run 5. Comfortable When I’m Crazy 6. Flower Shops (featuring Morgan Wallen) 7. Did It With You 8. What It’s Come To 9. If You Were Whiskey 10. Some Other Bar 11. Flower Shops (featuring Morgan Wallen) (Acoustic) 12. This Fire 13. Wild Wild West 14. Hill 15. Burn Out 16. Nothin’ To Lose 17. Songs We Used To Sing 18. Done At A Bar 19. Drunk With My Friends 20. Anything But Sober 21. What Have I Got To Lose (featuring Dean Dillon) 22. Heartache In My 100 Proof (featuring Jake Worthington) 23. Unhang The Moon 24. Miss That Girl Record label: Big Loud Records Release date: 10th February 2023

Laura Cooney
Laura Cooney
Laura has been writing for Entertainment Focus since 2016, mainly covering music (particularly country and pop) and television, and is based in South West London.

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Nashville native Ernest Keith Smith - better known by his first name - got his start in country music as a songwriter for the likes of Morgan Wallen, Florida Georgia Line, Chris Lane and Sam Hunt. Since signing a recording contract in 2019, he's...ERNEST - 'FLOWER SHOPS (THE ALBUM): Two Dozen Roses' album review