From A Room: Volume 1
Chris Stapleton
I’ve always been of the opinion that country music was one thing best left in the South, far away from me up here in the Northeast. Don’t get me wrong; I can fully enjoy some aspects of Southern culture, like good barbeque food and a cool pair of overalls, but as soon as I hear country music start to play, you can bet I’ll be running to my comfort zone in the ice-covered hills.
Needless to say, I anticipated a whole lot of ear-aches from country star Chris Stapleton’s latest album, “From A Room: Volume A.” Even his overwhelmingly positive critique reviews and Grammy decorations were not enough to convince me that this album was something to look forward to; I clung to my anti-country mentality like any good Northern girl should…until I heard his single, “Second One to Know.”
The track blew my mind. From the hard-hitting, rhythmic guitar riff, to the angsty but catchy chorus, to Stapleton’s incredible, deep, raspy voice, the song was a banger.
Suddenly I was questioning everything I had once believed in. It was scary, but exciting. I had found a country artist that I actually liked!
I think the biggest thing that drew me into Stapleton’s music is his powerful, passionate vocal delivery. The track “Either Way” showcases this well. Stapleton’s voice explodes over soft instrumentals singing, “We can just go on like this. Say the word, we’ll call it quits. Baby, you can go or you can stay, I won’t love you either way.”
The track seems like it would fit better on a soul record than a country one, and this soulful feel transcends to most of the tracks on the album, making even the more country-driven tracks on the record stomachable to an official country-hater such as myself.
When Stapleton sings in this soulful tone, he sounds absolutely amazing. However, every now and again he brings out a strong, generic country drawl, like on the track “Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning.” To me, this takes away from his passionate vibe and causes the tracks to suffer.
In addition to mostly impressive vocal deliveries, Stapleton has some decent instrumentals.
The guitar part to the track “I Was Wrong,” pleasantly reminds me of something the quirky alt rock band Weezer might come out with. The seventh track, “Without Your Love,” has a beautiful, haunting guitar-picking pattern that could fit in as a slow song on a Led Zeppelin album.
However, there were some weaker instrumental moments as well. For example, the shrill and unnecessary backup vocals accompanying Stapleton on several tracks only distracted from his amazing voice. The song “Up to No Good Livin’” had super generic country background instrumentation with twangy guitars and slow, repetitive riffs.
Another drawback to the album was its very short length, clocking in at barely 30 minutes, with only eight tracks. It would have been nice to see this album fleshed out a bit more, with more instrumentation and more length.
But at the end of the day, “From A Room: Volume 1” is a decent record. It’s definitely something to check out if you like country music. Even if you aren’t a country fan, if you’re looking to branch out a little bit, Stapleton’s new record is a great way to dip your toe into the pool of country.