With a career-spanning collection of gold and platinum hits and ten Number 1 singles Jake Owen has ascended to stardom as a mainstay country staple. Known for his laid-back style and genre defining hits like ‘Barefoot Blue Jean Night,’ ‘American Country Love Song,’ and ‘Alone with You,’ Owen’s last album, ‘Greetings From…Jake’, delivered three No.1 hits – ‘Made For You,’ ‘Homemade’ and ‘I Was Jack (You Were Diane)’ and a top five smash in ‘Down to the Honkytonk,’ so the pressure is on ‘Loose Cannon’ to keep that terrific run going. The good news is that it is as good, if not better, than ‘Greetings From…..Jake’ and should provide Owen with the ammunition to add to his haul of number ones and radio hits.
One of the things I’ve always admired about Jake Owen is that he has never chased a sound just because it is what other artists have done, he’s never compromised the values or passion at the heart of his music. Since the release of ‘Startin With Me’ in 2006, Owen has evolved into a leader, not a follower. Sure, those first couple of albums contained a little naivety in terms of sound and style although Owen still plays ‘Yea Haw’ and ‘Eight Second Ride’, rightly or wrongly, in his sets today. It was on third album, ‘Barefoot Blue Jean Night’ in 2011 that really found his stride, sound and style though and since then Owen has never looked back.
It’s been four years since we’ve had a full length album from Jake Owen and he’s undergone some turbulent personal changes in that time too. A decision to embrace sobriety seems to be working well for him and it sure hasn’t deadened any creative juices if ‘Loose Cannon’ is anything to go by. The album is a perfect mix of Owen’s classic ‘Days of Gold’ era sound and his more rowdy side, reflecting his own love of neo-traditional and 90s Country music.
If you are a fan of songs like ‘Ghost Town’, ‘Alone With You’ and ‘One Little Kiss’ you’ll find plenty to enjoy on ‘Loose Cannon’. Tracks like ‘Go Getter’, ‘Hearts and Habits’ and ‘It Don’t, He Won’t and You Do’ are steeped in the slick melodies and lyrical drama that fans have come to expect from this talented artist. ‘Go Getter’ is a post-fight song which sees the girl leaving in a blaze of drama and tail lights but it seems to be ‘their thing’ and all part of the passion whilst ‘Hearts and Habits’, a song that really puts me in mind of a track like ‘Ghost Town’, has a darker vibe and very dramatic feel to it. It’s a love / lust song about a 5ft 5inch ‘cowboy killer’ that is the very epitome of slick, Country / Pop which should be the kind of song that provides Owen with another number one. If we are talking future number ones, however, then ‘It Don’t, He Won’t and You Do’ is your boy! This is a clever, intelligent ballad in which each chorus provides the reasons for the answers in the title. ‘I wish the silence would run out of lonely, that God would let my prayers get through and you wouldn’t dance through my mind every night but it don’t, he won’t and you do.’ The plaintive guitars and Owen’s rich, sonorous vocals make this track one of the stand out highlights on what is a very strong album.
Elsewhere, that slick, modern Country sound can also be found on tracks like “Hope Less’, which sees Owen referencing his own sobriety and ‘Boy in the Chevrolet’, which is a huge anthem and potential hit-in-waiting too. ‘…..Chevrolet’ finds Owen imparting wisdom to a younger guy in a relatable way, ‘I was you just yesterday,’ he says on this relatable song full of heart and soul.
Perhaps the cleverest of the modern sounding songs is the awesome ‘When it All Shakes Out’, which might well be one of the most original songs Jake Owen has ever recorded. It’s another very dramatic, very personal song about digging deep and analysing the person you want to become. ‘You can wash off the dirt and change the shirt,’ he advises, ‘but it’s still you looking you in the eye.’ A big drum explosion and time change in each chorus makes this unique song a joy to listen to and the depth and originality on display could only come from an artist willing to push themselves whilst, at the same time, being totally at ease with who they are right now. That comfort and originality can also be found in tracks like ‘The Ending’, which has a sort of 90s college rock guitar opening before it settles into something akin to ‘Barefoot Blue Jean Night’, with it’s huge chorus. The juxtaposition of wistful lyrics set against the bombast of the music works a treat on this track, which again, could be another potential radio hit on an album crammed with many choices.
Alongside the slick, modern Country drama, Jake Owen also continues to pursue his interest in classic and neo-traditional Country music. The re-working of Willie Nelson’s classic ‘On the Road Again’ into Owen’s more personal ‘On the Boat Again’, is genius and works terrifically well whilst tracks like ‘Solo Solo’, ‘Shrank’ and ‘Friends Don’t Let Friends’ all showcase the rowdy, bar room side of Owen’s music brilliantly. ‘Solo Solo’ has an infectious chorus and a funky guitar riff built around the idea that ‘she was the one, so I poured two.’ ‘Shrank’ is a playful, 90s influenced play on words about a therapist and a small town. ‘I thought this town was small already,’ Owen sings, ‘but, shoot, you make a small town shrink.’ Simple, clever and intelligent, this song injects a little Dierks Bentley or Brad Paisley-esque humour into a genre that has become increasingly serious and a tad navel-gazey in recent years as artists like HARDY, Jelly Roll and Bailey Zimmerman bring a sort of bleak, Rock sensibility to a genre in danger of losing a little of its sense of humour. You can find Owen’s type of laid back fun on other tracks like ‘Nothing’ which finds Owen stating, ‘If you’re going to drink all day….you gotta start early in the morning.’
The title ‘Loose Cannon’ feels a little like an oxymoron at this point. Similar to the title track of the same name, this is a thoughtful, very personal album on which Owen plays majestically with all the tropes of modern Country Rock and 90s bar room radio. There’s a confidence and assurance to the songs on offer here that can only come from an artist really at ease with who they are and what they want to sound like. Life experience, the ups and downs of relationships, sobriety and wisdom all feed into the songs on ‘Loose Cannon’ meaning that you’ll be rocking out one moment, welling up the next and stomping your feet on a hard wood floor somewhere else. Clever lyrical decisions mixed with bold, confident musical choices and anthemic chorus after anthemic chorus means this album leaves you feeling immensely satisfied with the listening experience and with a damn big smile on your face too. Now. Let’s talk about finally doing those UK shows, shall we, Jake?
Tracklist: 1. Hot Truck Beer 2. Go Getter 3. Solo Solo 4. On the Boat Again 5. Hearts and Habits 6. When it All Shakes Out 7. Hope Less 8. It Don’t, He Wont and You Do 9. Friends Don’t Let Friends 10. Boy in the Chevrolet 11. Shrank 12. Nothing 13. Somewhere South With Rum 14. The Ending 15. Hey Can I Buy You a Beer 16. Loose Cannon Record Label: Big Loud Release Date: Friday 23rd June Buy ‘Loose Cannon’ now
