Ear Candy: Parker McCollum's Never Enough

    Country hasn't been this cool arguably since the 90s. As someone who used to only exclusively listen to 90s country, and has only now began dipping his toes back into the genre, it's pretty exciting to see the resurgence. And the genre is probably at its most playful and forward thinking since Garth Brooks' 90s run and Shania Twain's The Woman in Me and Come On Over. Listening to the production on Parker McCollum's Never Enough makes me think of that 90s ingenuity where it was both fun and also a musical statement. And it's a lot of fun! 

    I guess after so many Hot 100 topping singles in the last couple of years, country is the in genre of the moment. Which is pretty shocking. But there's many great acts out there, and country has blended in so many other genres to become something of a forced to be reckoned with. There's probably something country out there to please everybody.

    I knew country had made it back to the forefront when someone posted on the r/country subreddit wanting to know how they could acquire a country accent. It's never been sexier to have southern twang, I suppose. 

    Speaking of southern twang, I listened to McCollum's album last year after seeing some of his videos on CMT. I absolutely loved the stadium rock of "Hurricane." The light-hearted lyrics were catchy and matched the overall manly vibe of the album. The "someday she's gonna get her name on a hurricane" lyric is catchy and memorable as all hell.

    Even when Never Enough is being serious, it's still interesting and fun enough to make you want to sing along. The balladry sets its focus on lyrics. The upbeat numbers focus on being lush and attention grabbing with a lush array of instruments. See: "Burn It Down" with all of its effects, drums, and guitars in the foreground and background. 

    In this post-bro country wave, it's like we've returned to the 90s. And I'm liking it. We're still stoic and manly, but it's nice to see some vulnerability too like we see here. 

Rank: B Rank

Recommendation: when you're ready to burn it down