Country hit maker recaptures his commercial ‘90s sound

The warm, thick tone of Daryle Singletary’s baritone sounds remarkably true to the decade younger voice first heard on his string of 1990s hits. His low notes, reminiscent of Randy Travis (who was instrumental in Singletary’s early career), are smooth and controlled, and his mid-range is velvety rich. And that’s not all that harkens back to his prime commercial period: the production is Nashville smooth, and the songs combine heartbreak with uplifting and heartwarming stories. On the ennobling side there’s community activism in “Rockin’ in the Country,” a tear-inducing lifelong love story in “That’s Why God Made Me,” and love brought into sharp relief from “Background Noise.” Even the seduction of “Love You with the Lights On” feels more wholesome than, say, “Behind Closed Doors.” The album’s broken hearts include those pained with longing, ringed by sorrow and scarred from experience, and the classic country ballad “She Sure Looks Good in Black” cleverly twines funeral imagery with a romance’s death. The album closes with a low-key cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Those who feel Nashville’s travelled too far down Crossover Road will find this dash back to the country sounds of the ‘90s a welcome respite. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]