I haven’t been all that impressed with Michael Ray up to this point. I felt his lead single, ‘Kiss You In The Morning’, was generic and boring, with chorus repetition that grated on me, while his ‘Kiss You In The Morning EP’ was a collection of bland pop/rock pick-up tracks. Interestingly, while the majority of the material included on that EP has made it to the album (nice re-packaging guys), one track has been left off; ‘Tonight’s The Night’. Since that was just as forgettable as the rest of them, it’s not clear why they chose not to include it, but perhaps it was for the best.
The other tracks from the EP, ‘Run Away With You’, ‘Think A Little Less’, and ‘Livin’ It Up’ are all present, making up the bulk of the mid-way point in the album. The former is Michael’s own version of Big & Rich’s current single, which he co-wrote, but it hardly sounds any different; in fact, I have a strong suspicion that they used exactly the same music track and just placed Michael’s vocals on it instead. The latter is a generic alt rock party anthem, while ‘Think A Little Less’ initially pretends to be a sweet pop/rock mid-tempo offering before it reveals a rather alarming rapey side, telling a girl that she doesn’t have to let her friends know that he fucked her, but he’s going to regardless. He says that instead of conveying all the details, she can say they’re just friends. I don’t know about you, but if a guy said that to me on a date, I would run.
Elsewhere, Michael continues to be preoccupied with picking up girls. ‘Another Girl’ adds a pop sheen to an alt rock style as he lusts after a girl who goes wild on the dancefloor, while modern country track ‘Look Like This’ opts for a slower tempo as he creeps on a girl and how hot she looks. Luckily as the album progresses we are treated to a few songs that focus on love and relationships rather than sex and infatuation. For example, ‘Wish I Was Here’ is a sweet country pop song about all the amazing places he could head back to, but always wish he was back home with his significant other; ‘This Love’, meanwhile, opts for complex rhythm, pulsing synths and guitar riffs to express the power of the obsessive love he’s feeling and how none of the others compare; and ‘Drivin’ All Night’ goes for a more acoustic R&B drum loop and synths, peppered with guitar and piano, as it describes him driving all night to get to his love. It is quite possible this will be a single as it’s actually moderately catchy (in comparison to the other offerings), and is bland enough to get a pass from almost everyone.
Songs about love, lust and partying aside, there are three tracks on ‘Michael Ray’ that diverge from the main road. ‘Everything In Between’ reminds me of Easton Corbin’s ‘Clockwork’ or Lee Brice’s ‘Somebody’s Been Drinking’ in that now-popular narrative of a girl regularly coming round in the middle of the night for casual sex. This is actually the first time we feel some real emotion from Michael as he recounts how much he hates when she calls, he hates when she leaves, but he loves everything in between, implying that he wishes he could be with her full-time. The longing and the conflicted emotions really make this a standout track on what otherwise is a pretty boring record.
‘Somewhere South’ however, presents some problems. While the song features a nice enough lyric and melody (the multi-genre pop arrangement leaves something to be desired), there’s an authenticity problem. The track describes all the things he thinks of whenever he thinks of the south, and much of these involve a personal connection that relate to his own upbringing and values. Except, Michael Ray is from Eustis, Florida, a town which is deep within the Orlando area. In other words, not particularly southern. It’s all very well expressing your values and memories, even nostalgia for the place you grew up, but don’t call it the south unless it really was the south. It just doesn’t quite work.
And then there’s just the ridiculous trainwreck ‘Real Men Love Jesus’. This is just one big stereotyped list of things “real men” like or love, one that insinuates any men who don’t like football, don’t like going out, don’t drink, are gay, aren’t religious etc aren’t “real men”. Pretty insulting, especially in the context of homosexuality, where gay men are often referred to as not being “real men”. In general, though, it’s just a particularly unfair box that sums up all the standards men are supposed to conform to in Western society, reminding us the ridiculous extremes of gender roles (and that women aren’t the only ones who suffer). To top it all off, Jesus himself is hardly even mentioned, and He functions simply as a throwaway reference at the end of the chorus, designed to appeal to the Christian crowd. If you’re going to include Jesus in the title of a song, at least spend some time making Him the focus of the song. I’m not religious myself, but it’s just disrespectful.
Overall, ‘Michael Ray’ is an album of wannabe bro-country, peppered with generic poppy love songs, attempts to make himself relevant via drum loops and a couple of awful missteps. At its best it’s “okay”, at its worst it’s downright offensive. Best to keep moving with this one.
Originally posted here.
