Mercury Nashville / UMG Recordings
Release Date: November 10th 2023
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Chris Stapleton– Higher (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- What Am I Gonna Do
- South Dakota
- Trust
- It Takes A Woman
- The Fire
- Think I’m In Love With You
- Loving you On My Mind
- White Horse
- Higher
- The Bottom
- The Day I Die
- Crosswind
- Weight Of Your World
- Mountains Of My Mind
I’ve said time and time again in my previous reviews that for a long time I wasn’t a fan of country music. then I listened to (and reviewed!) Carrie Underwood’s album Cry Pretty (simply because it’s Carrie!), and now the rest is history. I’ve blogged about and reviewed many country artists and albums in the past… and now here in 2023, I’m about to delve into one of the most anticipated country albums of the year. Yep, it’s another country artist and a comforting yet confronting ‘country’ release- I say this in inverted commas, simply because the album is Higher by Chris Stapleton. Now Chris has had an interesting journey to stardom- and it’s happened late in life as he’s in his 40’s now… but I’ll leave all of the intricacies of Chris and his musical history to my blog about him; but if you want to know and read more about his story and how he got his start- well, then Wikipedia is a great place to find pieces of information that can be interesting to different people in many different ways. Similar in vocals and overall vibe to Third Day, Zach Williams and Needtobreathe (three artists whom have captured my attention, and whom I have resonated with greatly over the years); how about I dive deep, as much as I can with the limited knowledge of Chris that I have, into these 14 tracks, into one of the most inspiring and powerful albums of 2023? Ok, cool, well let me just say that even though you may think Chris needs to have some time to settle into this album- let’s just say that he carries over from where the brilliant Starting Over left off. Higher is impressive from start to finish no matter how you slice it. And that’s simply all there is to it, as Chris sings about a whole manner of topics and in a whole manner of styles.
Starting off with the melancholy acoustic guitar led “What Am I Gonna Do?”, co-written with Miranda Lambert, the persona poses the question of what he’s going to do now that he’s broken up with his ex and that he’s single but still not over her. There are no easy answers in this song (actually, probably no answers!), and Chris here brings forth the emotion, brutal honesty, and the pain. Is this song autobiographical about a past relationship? Maybe. We might never know. But what matters is that this song is incredibly relatable to anyone who has been through heartache or even unrequited love; and Chris needs to be congratulated here for starting the album off on a reflective note as we ponder about life’s big questions.
The rest of the album, though daunting with 13 more tracks, packs a punch, as Chris delivers more pearls of wisdom and solid gold truths! “South Dakota”, a slow-burn rocker, speaks about staying in one place in your mind because you feel comfortable, and don’t want to face the truth and the reality that you might need to venture out of that ‘safe-space’ bubble and into the big, wide world and into the unknown that is undoubtedly scary and downright terrifying; while “Trust” is a beautifully written love song to Chris’s wife Morgane, and the solid foundation and relationship that they have built on trust and love and devotion. It’s a song that is badly needed for Gen Z to hear as divorce right now in Hollywood is almost a given after 1-2 years, definitely before 5. This melody, a breath of fresh air, encourages us to stick through the rough spots in our marriages because the payoff at the end will be amazing- and it doesn’t hurt that this sounds like a song that Mac Powell of Third Day could and would record. Building upon that theme of trust and love for his wife, “It Takes A Woman”, probably one of the most vulnerable and honest moments on the album, speaks more about Chris’s rock steady relationship with Morgane, as ‘…whenever I’m broken, honey, you heal me, when I’m in the dark, you are the light, when I get lost, you know right where to find me, when I have my doubts, you make me believe…’; while the heartbreaking “The Fire” delves into unrequited love, and speaks about the fire burning in someone’s life for another person who doesn’t feel the same way. “Think I’m In Love With You”, a melody in which the lyrical content is as simple as the song title, in that Chris declares to his wife that he is sure that he’s in love with her, is sung from the perspective of someone who is about to declare their love to someone whom they have been keen on for a while; and this song ought to be a catalyst or maybe a wake up call for perhaps shy people to step out of their comfort zone and take a risk where you won’t normally- you never know if the other person may return your feelings- they might not, but they may as well. “Loving You On My Mind” then ends the first half of the album, as Chris declares that he’s really in love with his wife, and can’t get her out of his mind.
If the first half of Higher speaks about the pureness of love and the sanctity of staying in one relationship for a long time, the second half of the album is probably much more diverse lyrically. The cowboy-rocker “White Horse” delves into Chris being real and honest and confessional, outlining that he’s not the man hat ladies want if they’re looking for ‘…a cowboy on a white horse ridin’ off into the sunset, if that’s the kinda love you wanna wait for, hold on tight, girl, I ain’t there yet…’; while the moving and powerful title track speaks about being in love with someone so much that it seems like their love is the reason for existence, and the reason for breathing, that their klove takes you higher than any other thing in this world. “The Bottom”, a song about someone dealing with alcoholism after a messy breakup, speaks about figuring out your issues hopefully apart from alcohol, even though you may believe right now that ‘…the bottle holds the whiskey, the whiskey holds the man, the man holds the bottle when it’s all that’s left, and the left hand lights what the right hand holds, the smoke can’t hide what the heart regrets, ’cause the heart holds the memory and the memory holds the past, and the past holds the woman at the bottom of the glass, so I don’t have a problem if I don’t see the bottom…’; while Chris moves on lyrically from alcoholism to intense love for someone even after you’ve broken up, in “The Day I Die”, confessing that he’ll forever be in love with the person who broke his heart, and that the day he isn’t will be the day he dies.
“Crosswind” a slower-tempo rock melody about truck driving, speaks about moving fast in your life to get to where you want to go, and that sometimes there’s a season to keep moving, and another season to be still; while the penultimate song on Higher is the inspirational quasi-uplifting melody “Weight Of Your World”, which is almost like a song that God could sing to us, or a mate to another mate. It’s probably in the vein thematically of “You Raise Me Up”, and as Chris fervently declares ‘…give me your darkest hour, give me your deepest fear, just give me a call and I’ll be here, give me the bars and chains that won’t set you free, give me the weight of your world, and lay it on me…’, we are presented with one of the most rousing and moving songs on the album. Higher then ends with the somewhat confessional and utterly vulnerable and revealing “Mountains OF My Mind”, which deals with mental health and how we as humans should ask for help and also to lend a helping hand to others.
Chris Stapleton is an artist that possibly not that many people know about… as he’s in a very niche market. They might know him from all of the collaborations he’s involved in though (Calry Pearce, P!NK, Alana Springsteen, Justin Timberlake, to name a few); however I reckon that Higher, like with Starting Over, is a hidden treasure and a gem in all of the sea of releases of 2023- and I am certain that this record will make you a fan of Chris’s music. Maybe not the country genre… but certainly Chris’s brand of country and southern style singing, of vulnerably telling the truth and reminding us all of the demons we all need to deal with, and the support of family, friends and God that we all can rely upon. Even now, with so many good things to say about Chris… I’ll leave that to my blog, as I don’t like really repeating myself! So without further ado, let me say well done Chris and hats off to everyone involved in the making of this album- and to the doubters I say take a chance on this. Higher is one of my favourite albums of 2023- and I hope it’s near the top of your list as well!
4 songs to listen to: Trust, White Horse, Weight Of Your World, Mountains Of My Mind
Score: 5/5
RIYL: Zach Williams, Third Day. Needtobreathe, Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Luke Combs