Whitsitt Chapel

Effectively his introduction to a wide audience -- its his second album on a major but first to be thoroughly polished, right down to the inclusion of cameos -- Whitsitt Chapel finds Jelly Roll planting a stake firmly in the heart of country music. Much of his shift is due to how Ballads of the Broken, his 2021 mini-LP, landed a hit with "Son of a Sinner," a slow-burning outlaw anthem placed in soft enough focus to appeal to those listeners who have no stomach for the gaudy bounce of hick-hop. With its very title, Whitsitt Chapel appears thoroughly country and Jelly Roll plays with this theme throughout the record, emphasizing the sacred/profane connection by littering the album with tunes like "Halfway to Hell," "Church," "Dancing with the Devil," and "Hungover in a Church Pew." He still swears, he still sings to electronic rhythms, he still brings old rap friends Struggle Jennings and Yelawolf aboard for cameos, but he also finds space for country singers Brantley Gilbert and Lainey Wilson, all in an attempt to steer himself squarely toward the moody country mainstream. Jelly Roll not only seems kinder than, say, Jason Aldean, he seems earnest: his range may be limited but his delivery is sincere, and that lack of affectation reads as country even when the sound veers closer to post-grunge malls than backwoods honky tonk. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

スリー6マフィアの傍流から登場し、歌にシフトした前作からの"Son Of A Sinner"で大躍進したテネシーの無法者が、いよいよ完全に振り切って初のカントリー・アルバムを発表。アウトローなりの痛切な祈りを表現した"Need A Favor"からイェラウルフとの"Unlive"まで、持ち前の無骨さや古傷の色調が歌世界の奥行きに直結していて素晴らしい。なんと全米3位を獲得!
bounce (C)出嶌孝次