Famous Friends

Chris Young started drifting toward the middle of the road around the mid-2010s. He still racked up hits, regularly reaching the very top of Billboards Country Airplay charts, yet he didnt do it with a pep in his step, nor did he take any pains to conform to the sounds of the time. Famous Friends, his seventh proper studio album, finds him making a course correction, adding some livelier, stylish elements to his smooth foundation. Young signals the shift with the albums artwork -- he looks like hes hanging out in his backyard, compared to the crooner showcased on Losing Sleep -- and also how hes roped in Kane Brown, one of the leading lights of 2010s inclusive country, to duet on the title track. Browns presence helps ease in the sleekly elegant electronic rhythms, a production flourish that graces even the slower songs. Young still sings a lot of ballads here yet theyre balanced by brightly mellow party tunes like Hold My Beer and Raised on Country, colorful midtempo anthems like At the End of a Bar, plus the sprightly title track itself. The alterations are enough to give Famous Friends a discernible pulse, something that was lacking on Losing Sleep, which is more than enough to make Chris Young seem younger than he has in years. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine