Tullahoma

Dustin Lynch trusts a time-honored country instinct on Tullahoma: He named the album after his hometown. The idea is to convey that this record, his fourth, is a bit more of a personal affair for the country singer, which is perhaps a good move because hes seemed a little malleable on his previous albums. He didnt find a comfortable groove until 2017s Current Mood, where he fashioned himself into a considerably friendlier Jason Aldean, an aesthetic that provides a template for Tullahoma. Throughout this short, breezy affair, Lynch glides along country/R&B rhythms that percolate without threatening to break into funkiness. The emphasis is entirely on melody and feel, a combination thats amiable and easy; even on the sad songs (and there arent too many of those), Lynch seems to be singing with a smile. The unrepentant cheerfulness suits a set of songs so heavily polished they gleam and so anodyne its hard to tell whether Lynch is singing about his little town, an old country song, or his good girl. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine