Quick Hits, Vol. 309 (Lyle Lovett, Harry Styles, Miranda Lambert, Praise)

Lyle Lovett - 12th of June.  I got to see Lyle and his Large Band perform a good number of these songs earlier in 2022 at a concert at the Moody Theater.  His voice isn't as strong as it once was, and you can hear that here.  The whole first song is just an instrumental jazzy beebop, and so you don't hear his voice until "Pants is Overrated," the second tune.  And as soon as he kicks in, you can hear that he's just a little strained, a little less powerful, a little less clear.  "Are We Dancing" is another that showcases that less-powerful voice.  Which is too bad.  But I will definitely say that the band behind him is killer, and he's still damn interesting as a lyricist.  The title song is a real beauty, and that is the most-streamed tune as well.  363k streams.

Excellent harmonies in there, as well as a lovely sentimental story.  June 12 happens to be the birthday for both of his children, and when you know that the lyrics take a different flavor.  "All I have I gladly give them / All I am they will exceed / And one thing I know for sure / If they improve the likes of me / They make a better man of me."  After having just done a big ceremony for my son over the weekend, you'll excuse me if I am a little overly sentimental and weepy about the pride and love I have for my kiddos.  Hits a little different today!  This album isn't perfect, or among his best albums, but it has some really nice bits and pieces.

Harry Styles - Harry's House.  I'm well aware that this review is long overdue - everyone has already given all of the possible opinions about this album that anyone could ever need.  But the ACL monster takes up so much of my time that I never got around to it until now.  When I first turned on the album, many moons ago by now, I was not very excited by the opening track, "Music for a Sushi Restaurant," but now the brightly lit vocals and funky bass stick to my ears like a gummy little piece of rice you can't get off of a chopstick.  "Daydreaming" is nice, "Late Night Talking" is very good, but the megahit is "As It Was," with more than 1.6 BILLION streams.

Man, this makes me so annoyed that I didn't pony up and go to his concerts when he was in Austin.  I had FOMO then, but wasn't willing to pay up for the tickets.  But I sure do wish I would have made it happen...  Just a poppy blast of bright, danceable joy, despite the lyrics.  "In this world, it's just us, you know it's not the same as it was."  As relationships change and evolve over time, that lyric is so true.  The glory of most of the album is the funky, groovy, danceability of it.  He left behind some of that 70's Americana gold from his last album for something that sound classic but is also deeply bouncy and bright.  Really tasty disc.

Miranda Lambert - Palomino.  My normal angle would definitely be that I don't listen to purely Nashville artists like Lambert.  But then I make exceptions for people like Stapleton and Simpson.  Now Lambert is making me think she belongs in that same list of exceptions.  I really enjoyed her scruffy last album with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, so I figured I'd give this one a shot.  It is really enjoyable.  In part, that is because a lot of these songs are already in my head from the Marfa Tapes disc, but also because they are a good combination of country, rock, and solid songwriting.  And there are some curveballs on here - she's got the B-52's singing backup on one tune!  "Geraldine" makes me think of "Jolene."  "In His Arms" is lovely.  "Country Money" is funny.  "Waxahachie" is odd, because she asks the town if it is still on '35.  Like, are some towns known for picking themselves up and moving?  But it is a nice song - I dig the lyric of writing a lipstick letter while on a bourbon buzz.  But the top tune is "If I was a Cowboy," with a big lead over all other songs at 66.8 million streams.

Kind of has a Kacey sound to it.  Honestly, one of the weaker tunes on here in my opinion.  I much prefer the rest of the disc.  Not a bad song, just seems more like a contrived Nashville song working hard to make sure that she could sing about being the queen cowboy.  But, I'll absolutely keep this disc around.  I like it.

Praise - All In a Dream.  No recollection of where this album came from, but I still have a lot of music that has been in my new music queue for a while during the ACL season.  I dig the backing tunes - alternative rock/lite hardcore jams - but I'm less excited about the vocals.  They are kind of yelpy vocals that are stuck on one note.  You can definitely hear that on the title track, which is the top song on here at 120k streams.

It just starts to grate my nerves after a while that he's hollering more than singing.  And yes, I know that some of my favorite bands sound like screaming, but for whatever reason this one bugs after a while.  "Return to Life" has some backup vocals that feel more melodic, and therefore more enjoyable to me.  I might have found this while hunting for other bands like Turnstile, to see if they might give me the same jolt.  Not so much.