Leather

Concentrating on the basics after indulging in the sprawl of Human: The Double Album, Cody Johnson doubles down on the Lone Star State, whiskey, and work boots on Leather, a sturdy and streamlined collection of meat-and-potatoes country. Johnson is sharp enough to nod at the present by inviting nu-country sensation Jelly Roll into the studio, but he also makes way for Brooks & Dunn, whose presence helps underscore how the Texan crooner is rooted in the 1990s. In a sense, Leather is a record that follows the blueprint initially sketched out at the height of arena country: its melodic, varied, and friendly, so indebted to the needs of a song that Johnson doesnt even attempt to pen a single tune here. His plainspoken vocals seem humble and kind, a quality that gives his ballads a palpable earnestness, yet his true gift is how he seems light and lively when he picks up the tempo. The heart of the record lies in the affable "Work Boots," the slow-grooving "Double Down," and the rollicking barroom rocker "Thats Texas," songs that give this straight-ahead country a needed dose of good cheer. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine