Life Changes

Life Changes

by Thomas Rhett
Life Changes

Life Changes

by Thomas Rhett

CD

$17.99 
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Overview

Life Changes is nothing if it's not a literal title. This third album from Thomas Rhett arrives on the heels of 2015's Tangled Up, the album that confirmed his country stardom, an event significant enough to warrant such an album name, but the singer experienced positive personal upheaval too. Just months after adopting an 18-month-old baby, Rhett's wife became pregnant, so the singer became a father twice over in the wake of Tangled Up, an experience he chronicles in the concluding verse of the album's title track. It's a sentimental tale, so it's not surprising he gets a little sticky when he recites autobiographical particulars, but his willingness to open up the entirety of his heart signals how Rhett is a modern man, and Life Changes stands as a testament to that fact. He's a loyal loverman, continuing to seduce his longtime partner years after they fell for each other; he's a smooth talker with a penchant for over-sharing, a tendency that makes him an ideal country-pop star for the age of social media. Life Changes is littered with references to the modern world -- blue check marks on an Instagram, burned CDs, mango green tea, and Coldplay songs -- but, more impressively, the music engages with contemporary pop trends, going far beyond the R&B inclinations of Tangled Up. Notably, Rhett leans hard into dance music, pushing skittering EDM drops on "Leave Right Now" and coating his Maren Morris disco duet "Craving You" with a sleek electronic gloss. Such sly adventure is appealing -- particularly because it's balanced by a good dose of country-soul and such straight-ahead country as "Drink a Little Beer," a duet with his father, Rhett Akins -- but Life Changes isn't just flash; it's grounded by its 14 well-constructed songs. Sometimes that craft is in the service of nothing more than slick radio pop, but the breezy "Smooth Like the Summer" and simmering "Gateway Love" retain their charms after multiple plays due to their sculpted melodies and Rhett's light touch, a quality that helps sell such life lessons as "Sixteen," a song of experience that serves as the counterpoint to the mawkish "Life Changes." But even that title track is expertly assembled, sailing along on a lilting groove and drum loop, evidence that Rhett is as savvy a musician as he is a pop star. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date: 09/08/2017
Label: Big Machine Records / Valory
UPC: 0843930032327
Rank: 179788

Tracks

  1. Craving You
  2. Unforgettable
  3. Sixteen
  4. Drink a Little Beer
  5. Marry Me
  6. Leave Right Now
  7. Smooth Like the Summer
  8. Life Changes
  9. When You Look Like That
  10. Sweetheart
  11. Kiss Me Like a Stranger
  12. Renegades
  13. Gateway Love
  14. Grave

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Thomas Rhett   Primary Artist,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Maren Morris   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Rhett Akins   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
John Hinchey   Trombone
Dann Huff   Banjo,Mandolin,Guitar (Electric)
Stuart Duncan   Fiddle
Dave Barnes   Vocals (Background)
Charlie Judge   Strings,Keyboards,Synthesizer
Nate Mercereau   French Horn
Ilya Toshinskiy   Guitar (Acoustic)
Ben Caver   Vocals (Background)
Sam Ellis   Keyboards,Keyboards
Jordan Reynolds   Vocals (Background)
Chris Kimmerer   Drums
Derek Wells   Guitar (Electric)
Julian Bunetta   Drums,Guitar,Keyboards,Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Joe London   Keyboards,Guitar (Electric)
Tom Peyton   Trombone
Matt Dragstrem   Vocals (Background)
Paul Franklin   Guitar (Steel)
Robert Bailey   Vocals (Background)
Danny Rader   Guitar (Acoustic)
Russell Terrell   Vocals (Background)
Skip Edwards   Guitar (Steel)
David Lee Murphy   Vocals (Background)
Emily Weisband   Vocals (Background)
Martin Jensen   Featured Artist
Vicki Hampton   Vocals (Background)
Jason Eskridge   Vocals (Background)
Wendy Moten   Vocals (Background)
Jessi Alexander   Vocals (Background)
Jim Hoke   Sax (Alto),Sax (Tenor),Sax (Baritone)
Jimmie Lee Sloas   Bass

Technical Credits

Rhett Akins   Composer
Mike Griffith   Production Coordination
Josh Miller   Composer
Dann Huff   Producer
Hillary Lindsey   Composer
Adam Ayan   Mastering
John Shearer   Photography
Steve Marcantonio   Engineer
Ash Howes   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Dave Barnes   Composer
Josh Osborne   Composer
Seth Morton   Engineer,Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Jesse Frasure   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Assistant,Programming
Becky Reiser   Art Direction,Graphic Design
Joe Spargur   Composer
Ed Drewett   Composer
John Ryan   Composer,Programming,Composer,Composer,Programming
Chris Small   Editing,Digital Editing
Sam Ellis   Composer,Programming,Composer,Programming
Allison Jones   A&R
Kam Luchterhand   Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Jordan Reynolds   Composer
Thomas Rhett   Composer,Producer
Joshua Miller   Composer
Laurel Kittleson   Production Coordination
Ben Hayslip   Composer
Janice Soled   Production Coordination
Julian Bunetta   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Songwriter,Programming
Sandi Spika Borchetta   Art Direction
Joe London   Engineer,Producer,Programming
Chris DeStefano   Composer
Matt Dragstrem   Composer,Programming
Serban Ghenea   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Russell Terrell   Engineer,Assistant
Joe Baldridge   Engineer
Shane McAnally   Composer
David Lee Murphy   Composer
Emily Weisband   Composer
Brianna Steinitz   Production Coordination
Sean Douglas   Composer
Becca Walls   Interviewer
John Hanes   Mixing Engineer
Justin Niebank   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Jessi Alexander   Composer
Ashley Gorley   Composer
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