Country singer Dierks Bentley mostly sticks with what he knows on fourth album Feel That Fire, while pushing his music closer to the country mainstream that already embraced him in a big way with 2006’s Long Trip Alone. Long Trip had plenty of slicked-out rockers, but it also had a stronger connection to Bentley’s traditional country influences; Fire tips the scales in favor of guitar-heavy tunes like the title track, “Sideways” and “Life on the Run.” Not that Bentley’s country-rock is entirely generic; “Here She Comes” and “Little Heartwrecker” are catchy, successful hybrids of arena hooks and country twang that are pretty much destined to climb the country charts.
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Better still, though, are the moments when Bentley stops to embrace the rootsier, more alternative influences on his sound. Singer-songwriter Patty Griffin lends her voice to the somber “Beautiful World,” and bluegrass scion Ronnie McCoury joins Bentley on a cover of McCoury’s “Last Call,” which serves as a companion piece to “Prodigal Son’s Prayer,” Bentley’s bluegrass-infused collaboration with The Grascals on Long Trip. These detours prove that Bentley is more than just a pop-country pretty face, although not every one is successful—the Tex-Mex-sounding “I Can’t Forget Her” is a bit of a turgid mess.
Bentley’s balance of pop-rock accessibility and pure-country traditionalism is a delicate one, and Fire isn’t as satisfying a mix as Long Trip was. But it’s still a hopeful sign that he’ll continue to temper his party-down anthems with a healthy dose of introspection and classicism.
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