DISClaimer Single Reviews: Kameron Marlowe Delivers ‘Blazing-hot Soul Singing’

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Kameron Marlowe. Photo: Ben Dartnell

The tide is turning in country music’s favor.

In both the pop and the country worlds, I am detecting a trend toward acoustic sounds. This bodes well for the genre’s most “country” of artists. Several of today’s DISClaimer candidates evidently see the writing on the wall — Jackson Wendell, Waylon Wyatt, Dylan Gossett and DISCovery Award winner Landon Smith all have new singles that are all about simplicity.

The Disc of the Day award goes to my long-time favorite Kameron Marlowe, a vocal powerhouse every time he steps up to the mic.

As a side note: Although this week’s column is devoted to male artists, few of them display the creativity of Megan Moroney, Ashley McBryde, Brandy Clark, Kacey Musgraves, Ella Langley, Emily Ann Roberts, Lainey Wilson, Carter Faith, or many of their other female counterparts.

WILLIAM BECKMANN / “You Only Love to Break My Heart”
Writers: Jessie Jo Dillon/Konrad Snyder/Matt Roy/William Beckmann; Producer: Konrad Snyder; Label: Gatsby Records
– Lushly melodic and echoey atmospheric. It has a dreamy, retro-pop vibe that conjures the spirits of Roy Orbison and/or Gene Pitney.

BRENDAN WALTER / “Model Maniac”
Writers: Brendan Walter/David Pugh; Producer: Taylor Kimball; Label: Records V2
– Nicely produced, pop-rock heartbreak with a double-tracked, pleading tenor vocal.

GAVIN ADCOCK / “Wannabe”
Writers: Brad Clawson/Ernest Keith Smith/Gavin Adcock/Jacob Durrett/Morgan Wallen; Producer: Jay Rodgers; Label: Warner Records Nashville
– He loves his boots, jeans, hat, beer, chewing tobacco, country music, pickup truck, deer stand, bass boat, and everything else that’s redneck. So there.

ZACH JOHN KING / “I’m What You Get”
Writers: Jimmy Robbins/Rhett Akins/Zach John King; Producers: Ryan Wilson, Zach John King; Label: Sony Music Nashville
– The title tune of King’s 20-track debut album is a mid-tempo description of a guy who carries around a lot of small-town attitudes, and can’t/won’t change. The collection’s lilting heartbreaker “Get to Drinkin’” has already become a radio favorite.

KAMERON MARLOWE / “Take You Down With Me”
Writers: Austin Goodloe/Kameron Marlowe/Kendell Marvel; Producers: Austin Goodloe, Kameron Marlowe; Label: Columbia Nashville
– I remain an enormous fan. Blazing-hot soul singing, propulsive percussion and dramatic atmosphere pour from this track. Marlowe stands at the forefront of today’s male country record makers.

DYLAN GOSSETT / “Headed Back to Austin”
Writer: Dylan Gossett; Producer: Dylan Gossett; Label: Big Loud Texas/Mercury Records
– Folkie and mellow. He eases his troubled mind by closing his eyes and imagining himself back in the capital of the Lone Star State.

BLAKE PROEHL / “Hearts Don’t Break Like That”
Writers: Blake Proehl/John Spencer Jordan/Joseph Tounge/Lydia Southerland/Todd Tran; Producer: Todd Tran; Label: MCA
– Kinda half-sung, this wears its hip-hop influences on its sleeve. Five songwriters? Really?

LANDON SMITH / “Don’t Mind Me”
Writer: Landon Smith; Producer: Dave Cobb; Label: Lucille Records
– Sad, poignant, aching, and deeply contemplative. He’s lost everything — family, money, home — and believes he is “less than a memory.” The sighing, gentle, acoustic production is poetry. A stunning debut.

TREY PENDLEY / “Country Boy Friday Night”
Writers: Kendell Marvel/Trey Pendley; Producer: Jacob Bryant, John Davidson; Label: Leo33
– Gently rollicking and relaxing. The track burbles along delightfully, while he croons lovingly about his blue-collar, backwoods lifestyle. Charming and innocent.

DALTON DAVIS / “TouchTunes”
Writers: Dalton Davis/Gabe Walsh/Jake Hess/Travis Chaney; Producer: none listed; Label: Republic Records
– He puts $10 into the jukebox, and it cures his heartache. Several country hits are name-checked — “Back in the Saddle Again,” “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound,” “Redneck Woman,” “Fishing in the Dark,” “Queen of My Double Wide,” “Better Man,” “Heartache Medication,” and so forth.

BLAKE WHITEN / “Bet On That”
Writers: Blake Whiten/Grant Averill/Hoskins/Joe London; Producer: Austin Shawn; Label: Enchntmnt/Warner Records
– She’s a heartbreaker, and he’s not giving her a second chance in this moody ditty. His vocal sounds muffled.

JACKSON WENDELL / “Mr. Middleman”
Writers: Hayden Baker/Jackson Wendell; Producer: Brandon Hood; Label: Sony Music Nashville
– Languid, light, introspective and ever-so-slightly jazzy. He’s asking the Good Lord for a little help to get the girl of his dreams. Produced with a deft, spare, simple touch, this goes down mighty smoothly.

WAYLON WYATT / “Dustpiles”
Writers: Brett Truitt/JR Atkins/Waylon Wyatt Potter; Producers: Brett Truitt, JR Atkins; Label: Music Soup/Darkroom Records
– On this title tune of his debut album, the boyish tenor vocalist vows lasting love, one that endures until the two of them are reduced to dust. The fiddle-and-guitar acoustic production of the soft ballad has just the right blend of tenderness and support. Wyatt is booked to play Brooklyn Bowl next Tuesday evening (Oct. 13). 

Robert K Oermann
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