Music

[Country] Kenny Chesney

Josh Bell

You might be in trouble when the best way to describe your music is as a less edgy version of Jimmy Buffett, but the formula has worked out pretty well for Kenny Chesney. Fitting into the mainstream country scene while incorporating elements of Buffett’s laid-back beachcomber sound, Chesney has built himself a cottage industry to rival his idol’s. His awkwardly titled new album, Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, will do plenty to bolster that industry, even if it’s not particularly interesting. Slick, polished and with only token nods to the country tradition, it’s a solid, middle-of-the-road album for middle-aged middle America.

At times, its mix of clichéd sentiments renders it sort of poignant, though, a portrait of the tension in appealing to mostly settled, married people who want to imagine they can still cut loose. In back-to-back songs, Chesney swears that he’ll grow up someday, “Just Not Today,” and then earnestly pines for a “Wife and Kids.” But other than that notable contrast, the songs themselves are entirely bland, with subject matter familiar from dozens of country tunes. Worse is the atrociously sappy “Dancin’ for the Groceries,” a dreadful tribute to a single mother who works as a stripper (which actually features the line, “In sequins and in laces, she’s dancin’ for the braces/So her kids can have a perfect smile someday”).

Chesney’s most Buffett-esque numbers (“Shiftwork,” “Got a Little Crazy”), complete with steel drums and horn sections, sound more like pale imitations, but he does exhibit some infectious energy on a cover of Dwight Yoakam’s “Wild Ride,” featuring a bit of groovy talk-box guitar. On most of the other tracks, he sounds like he’s already kicked back on the beach with a Corona and left most of the work to the songwriters and studio musicians.

KENNY CHESNEY

Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates

** 1/2

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