
When I first listened to ‘Golden’, Lady Antebellum’s new
album from which ‘Goodbye Town’ is the second single, I was significantly
underwhelmed. True, I prefer music with a bit more twang and grit than is
typically expected of Lady Antebellum, but I had enjoyed ‘Downtown’ and was
hoping for more sass from their fourth record. However, ‘Goodbye Town’
accurately reflects an album which has few stand-out tracks, this one in
particular not being one of them. I was surprised that this was to be the
single, therefore, and disappointed that they chose to release a bland,
predictable soft rock ballad over some of the more interesting songs on
‘Golden’.
It would probably be correct to assume that most of their
fans will lap up ‘Goodbye Town’, as it does much of what they have done before:
an atmosphere and guitar-led song about angsty love/heartbreak, with fairy
standard lyrics that every teenage girl can post in a picture on their Tumblr
with some romanticized imagery. In fact, much of the song musically reminds me
of a single from their first album, ‘I Run To You’. If Lady A were looking to
release a heartbreak ballad, they could have chosen ‘It Ain’t Pretty’, or if
they were looking for something fuller production but similar tempo, ‘Get To
Me’ is a fairly solid track.
(more…)