There’s something really appealing about the way Australian country singer Max Jackson pitches “Dangerous In Denim”. On one hand, this is modern country made to connect immediately, all bright hooks, radio-ready polish and songs that know exactly where the sweet spot is. On the other, there’s enough heartland twang and small-town truth here to stop it ever feeling faceless. At its best, it sounds like she puts it: ” like AC/DC meeting old George Jones” which is not a bad place to start at all.
After the brief scene-setting of “Dangerous In Denim (Intro)”, “Red Dirt ROCKNROLL” kicks the doors open with a chorus big enough to explain the whole Max Jackson appeal in one go. It’s bold, catchy and full of character. Then “Goin’ Nowhere Now” feels built for a two-step down at the honky tonk, the sort of song that knows exactly what it wants to do and gets there with a grin.
What Jackson does well across the record is balance sass with warmth. “GRASS” radiates love and contentment, a song where the picture painted is simple but deeply effective. The grass really is greener round here. “Shotgun Slide” is unashamed country-pop, and fair play to it for that, while “We Invented Love” has one eye firmly on the first-dance market. That doesn’t make it cynical, mind you. It just means Jackson knows how to write songs people will want to soundtrack their lives with.
Elsewhere, “Bring It In” adds a streak of blue-collar stoicism, and “A Country Heart Can” underlines one of the album’s real strengths: its focus on ordinary people, on the little details, on lives that actually feel lived-in. That’s often where country is at its strongest, and Jackson understands that.
By the time “1990 Somethin’” rolls around, “Dangerous In Denim” is having a right old time. This is perfect country fun that knows its history, and it also proves yet again why country music probably does more for tourism than a thousand glossy adverts ever could. You hear songs like this and you want to visit the places they come from. “Hold My Horses” follows with as much sass as you like, and when Jackson winks, “I am ready for riding, if you know what I mean,” well, yes, we very much do.
And then there’s “Little More Country”, which neatly sums up one of the album’s central ideas: you can take the girl out of the small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the girl. That sense of place runs through the whole record. Jackson may well be on the verge of needing to pack the Wranglers into a suitcase and get used to the neon lights, but the charm here is that she never sounds like she’s forgotten where she came from.
Produced by her mentor Rod McCormack and written with a strong list of collaborators, “Dangerous In Denim” feels like the work of an artist who understands both herself and her audience. It’s commercial, yes, but it’s got enough personality and enough affection for country music’s traditions to make it stick. Max Jackson sounds ready for a much bigger stage.
RATING 8/10
