I am a self-professed disliker of country pop. I prefer
something a little more rooted in traditional song structures, and something
with a little more twang. However, I have always found Jana Kramer far more
listenable than most, and the singles released up until now, ‘Why You Wanna’
and ‘Whiskey’ I think have been strong, and have done fairly well on the charts
considering how new she is to country music. ‘I Hope It Rains’ continues this
pattern, and while all are quite pop-orientated (indeed, this track includes
“na na nas” as a hook), the songs pay a little more attention to ‘country’
instrumentation than some others, and are simply more interesting.

‘I Hope It Rains’ is built around drums and electric guitar,
but has a significant mandolin part that both begins and underlines the song
throughout, and very low in the mix,
a steel guitar is just audible on the chorus. This makes it more
pleasant-sounding and aurally accessible than some of the other straight pop
songs in Nashville, and while it has a pretty conventional sonic unit of the
punchy guitar lines led by a standard drum beat, it’s fairly dynamic and
summery. As is vital for all summer songs, it could easily be played whilst
driving and create a great atmosphere.

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