By Shelby Parker Features Editor
Country trio and seven-time Grammy Award winners, Lady Antebellum released their fifth album “747” on Sept. 30.
The trio has had consistent hits from previous albums, and the latest release has the potential to follow the same path. As artists start to evolve and change over the course of their career, many fans tend to get worried. However, Lady A’s fans have welcomed it.
Though a far stretch from their first album, it shows not only the evolution of country music in the past decade, but does so in a positive light. “One thing we’ve learned — and it’s been proven to us over the past couple of years — is that when we do take chances, the fans have responded really well,” Charles Kelley told Rolling Stone about their new direction. T
he group stays true to the country genre with its traditional theme of singing about love and heartbreak. While most of their previous albums have included sweet ballads and upbeat melodies, “747” explores with instruments such as electric guitars and drums, as well as darker underlying tones in the beats. Some even get a little funky with an island vibe.
It seems that the group’s recent friendship with Stevie Nicks has also rubbed off on their songwriting and style, adding a more sultry rock ‘n’ roll tone on songs such as “Long Stretch of Love,” “Falling For You,” which is a bonus track on the Deluxe Edition, and even “Bartender,” which was their first single from the album.
That isn’t to say that they are without their fun songs, because many are featured. It’s one of those albums that will be a trip to hear live, as each song has a much bigger sound than the production and workings of the studio can completely capture.
Tracks like “Freestyle,” “Sounded Good At The Time,” and “All Nighter,” which is also on the Deluxe Edition of the album, have attitude and wordy lyrics. There’s still plenty of evidence of their country roots when they slow it down with “Damn You Seventeen,” and “One Great Mystery,” then again with catchy, yet mellow songs, such as “She Is,” “Lie With Me” and “Just A Girl.” “Down South” is one of those classic tracks for the group, resembling the stylings of past songs such as “American Honey” or “Home Is Where The Heart Is,” which dedicated fans will be familiar with.
“We always knew we could reel ourselves back in, so why not just go for it and explore every avenue, every option, while we’re in the studio? We can always pull back. A lot of times, we went that extra mile and didn’t have to pull back, because we got there and realized, ‘Oh, this is totally another part of who we are.
This is awesome,’” Hillary Scott added in “Rolling Stone.” The title track “747” seems to be the driving force of the album as they’ve mentioned, so it seemed to be a natural decision making that the name of the album. It leads them forward musically and perfectly encapsulates what they were going for. Vocally, the group has never sounded better.
They’ve always had their own sound, but now they’re owning it and expanding on elements that the fans love, which is heart and passion. But, while they’ve experimented, they haven’t strayed so much that they’re unrecognizable. Lady Antebellum has proven once again that there are no limits to what they can do. In honor of the album’s release, Haywood, Kelley and Scott have been surprising fans all across the country as part of their “7 for 7” contest.
