A person’s voice defines them. It establishes a personality, and makes them who they are. Tim McGraw’s voice is that of a smooth and touching Southerner. McGraw’s twelfth album, Southern Voice, stays true to his roots and traditional voice with soulful and emotional lyrics mixed into upbeat tracks.
“It’s A Business Doing Pleasure With You,” the first single off of McGraw’s newest album and has done fairly well, earning a spot at number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. This song contains a mix of lyrics that plays with its word, which varies a little bit from the rest of the tracks on Southern Voice (most likely because the lead singer of Nickelback, Chad Kroeger, contributed in the writing process). If you strip away the smooth voice of Tim McGraw and his twangy country feel, it is very easy to see Nickelback performing this song, guitars in hand, bashing the rather expensive woman the lyrics focus on.
A particularly McGraw-esque song “I Didn’t Know It At The Time” is a great addition to the album. A slow beat with sad instruments and lyrics like “I thought that my first love would be my wife/But in junior high she moved away from here/I thought Johnny would always be my best friend/I haven’t talked to him in 15 years” proves to be a very traditional Tim McGraw country song.
The only downfall to this album is in the song “Ghost town.” It has a weird beat that does not match the tone of voice or the lyrics. The instrumentals are fast, happy and upbeat but McGraw’s voice is slow and mournful, making for an awkward pairing.
Above all, Tim McGraw’s newest album Southern Voice stays true to his original sound and he has successfully produced an album stuffed full of many up and coming top country hits.
4 out of 5 stars
