Livin My Best Life (Still)

Dylan Scott opens his long-awaited second album, Livin My Best Life, with a song about a "New Truck" and concludes it with an ode to a small "Nothing to Do Town." Between those two points, he lingers on a variety of other country cliches, emphasizing bonhomie and bros over boozed-up partying. This softer touch allows Scott to pour his heart into the cornball "Cant Have Mine (Find You a Girl)," where he implores that you "find you a girl that leaves you speechless, gets wild on the town but still loves Jesus," a sticky sentiment that nevertheless sums up his appeal: hes an average dude who isnt afraid to let everybody know he has a good heart. Such amiable spirits can warm the clean contours of his slick country, one that seems tethered to the melodic country-pop of the mid-2010s, which just happens to be when he released his eponymous debut. Scott isnt necessarily stuck in the past so much as he traffics in shopworn ideas: he delivers standard country fare in a standard way, which places the albums success squarely on the strength of his own charisma. Hes not a forceful singer, nor is he a monotone -- hes merely an average country singer, capable of navigating the twists in a melody without putting a distinctive spin on the tune. That makes for a perfectly competent and complacent listen: it goes down easy and leaves no trace. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine