“Long as I got a little hometown left in me.”
There it is. Wherever he has been, whatever stages he has stood on, however many millions have streamed the songs, Jason Aldean knows where he is from. And really, that is at the heart of “Songs About Us”.
Because the title nails it. These are universal songs. Songs about small towns, big nights, old flames, open roads, bar rooms, mistakes, memories, and the people who never quite leave you alone. In other words, exactly the sort of stuff Aldean has built a career on. Not so much country as AOR, until that voice kicks in and reminds you where the thing is rooted.
“Anytime Soon” starts with the confidence of a record that knows exactly what it is. By the time the closing bit arrives, you can already see it being played live, the lights up, the crowd singing it back. “Drinking About You” takes that everyman thing and sharpens it, while “Don’t Tell On Me” is more hard rock than anything else. That has always been part of Aldean’s gift: country songs with arena-rock shoulders.
“How Far Does A Goodbye Go” had already done serious numbers before the album arrived, and 13 million streams tells its own story. But numbers alone do not explain why Aldean connects so clearly with people the world over. “Ain’t no doubt, we won’t ever burn out on songs about us,” he sings on the title track with Luke Bryan, and that is the thesis statement right there. He knows these stories last because they are yours as much as his.
The writing is clever, too. “Good Thing Going” has that play-on-words ease that sounds simple until you try to do it yourself, while “She’s Why” brings the reflection. “Backroads Of My Memory” is exactly the sort of title Aldean was born to sing, and “Dust On The Bottle”, with David Lee Murphy, is storytelling done properly. The duet is perfect: warm, lived-in, and not trying too hard.
There is always a bar. Always a girl. Always some heartbreak.
“The High Road” keeps things polished, and “Easier Gone”, with wife Brittany Aldean, is made for radio. It is a family affair, sure, but it works because the song is strong enough. “Help You Remember” goes big, while “Country Into Rock ’n’ Roll” might as well be this album’s mission statement. That is what Aldean does: he takes country stories and gives them the heft of classic rock.
“What’s A Little Heartache” and “One Last Look” are built around the people you never forget. “Fight A Fire” adds defiance, and “Hard To Love You” understands that some people, some feelings, and some places are never quite tamed.
The album is roughly split between the rocky ones and these more grounded songs, almost as if to underline the everyman point. Aldean may be playing to huge rooms, but he still sings like he knows the road back.
“Her Favorite Colour” is one for the blue-collar ladies who like a little dirt on their man, and “Lovin’ Me Too Long” ends things with growing old together rather than burning out. That matters. For all the volume and all the rock muscle, “Songs About Us” works because it understands that ordinary lives are never really ordinary to the people living them.
“Songs About Us” is exactly what it says it is: ordinary lives, old roads, old flames, hometowns you never quite shake off, and people you never quite forget.
And that’s why country is universal.
RATING: 8.5/10
