Just one week after releasing ‘Heart’ to the public, Eric Church dropped ‘Soul’ on Friday. This 9-track album is the final installment in an unprecedented triple album (the second part ‘&’ was released exclusively to his Church Choir fan club members on Tuesday). There was a distinct difference in vocal delivery and tempo of these songs as opposed to ‘Heart’, which was appreciated.
The album’s strongest song was easily ‘Rock & Roll Found Me’. It gives the audience a glimpse into his passion for music. We all have that one thing that helps us define who we are, and clearly Church was made to be a musician. There’s range in his vocals, the song makes you want to sing along, and his background singer elevates the song to another level. ‘Break It Kind Of Guy’ is also another gem in this collection. The song portrays Church’s place in country music, which is that of an outlaw. He doesn’t do well with rules and likes to carve his own path. One thing that can be said about him above all else is that his music is always authentic and believable.
Unfortunately, as with ‘Heart’, there were a couple of missteps on ‘Soul’. ‘Where I Wanna Be’ is fine and it’s sonically strong, but the trope of “nothing else matters unless I have you by my side” is so overdone. When the listener has heard this same type of song hundreds of times, no amount of strong lyrics will prevent the eyeroll that will ensue when this type of song comes on. ‘Jenny’ falls into the trap of being so repetitive that it veers into desperation territory. Sometimes when Church begs people to listen, either through his lyrics or his passionate vocal performance, it can turn some people off. One thing that he hasn’t quite mastered yet is letting the music speak for itself. It’s almost as if he needs his audience to like him more than his music at times, especially when the quality of the song isn’t there.
‘Soul’ had its strong moments, but overall ‘Heart’ was a stronger collection. There are some songs that might find their way on my playlist though. To form your own opinion on ‘Soul’ as well as ‘Heart’, click here.
