As an album title,
Starting Over
can't help but carry connotations of an artistic rebirth, but three or four albums into his solo stardom,
Chris Stapleton
is in no position to rip it up and start again.
Stapleton
found his footing with 2015's
Traveller
and he's spent the years since digging deeper into his burnished groove, tying the binds between classic country, classic rock, and classic soul even tighter. A new beginning isn't in the cards for a singer/songwriter who has styled himself as an old-fashioned troubadour, an outlaw with a heart of gold singing sweet love songs as often as he kicks up dust. He's a traveler on a long road, not quite forging into undiscovered country as much as finding fresh routes through familiar terrain. Working once again with producer
Dave Cobb
,
underscores rootsy continuity not just with his own catalog, but with his idols. He takes the time to salute the pioneers who came before him by covering two
Guy Clark
songs here ("Worry B Gone," "Old Friends"), along with a deep
John Fogerty
solo cut that pairs quite nicely with the swampy choogle of the original "Devil Always Made Me Think Twice." The biggest nod to the past arrives through a couple of key members of
Tom Petty
's
Heartbreakers
joining the fold:
Benmont Tench
is on eight of the album's 14 songs, while
Mike Campbell
co-wrote two of the record's highlights, the funky vamp "Watch You Burn" and the rampaging "Arkansas." The former
are excellent foils for
and they also emphasize that he's a bit like
Petty
in how he revives sounds of the past for the present and in how he turns out reliably sturdy albums.
could use a bit of
's flair -- there's not a lot of humor here, nor are there any flirtations with modern sounds -- but his straight-ahead style nevertheless satisfies on
. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine