Hit Rec Records / Capitol Records Nashville / UMG Recording Inc
Release Date: March 1st 2024
Reviewed by: Joshua Andre
Keith Urban– Messed Up As Me (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Messed Up As Me
It’s no stranger that throughout the time that I’ve been blogging about influential artists, and throughout the time that I’ve been listening to country music– that Australian superstar Keith Urban has been a favourite artist of mine. He’s seems to be an extremely likeable guy (judging from his interviews and his presence as a judge on The Voice Australia!), and his songs are super catchy, relatable, inspiring, as well as relevant to the times we’re living in now. Keith is like an everyman type of artist- someone you can aspire to be like if you’re a budding young singer or songwriter- and it’s clear that he’s very grounded and has no ego. I can guarantee you that in 50 years’ time, we’ll still be talking about Keith and his music, as well as the mark he’s made on music in general; and if you want to know more about Keith and his music, then read Jon’s blog about him, as well as his review on his 2020 album THE SPEED OF NOW PT 1. Since that time, Keith’s also released 4 stand-alone singles and 1 lead single for his new album- and each are varying degrees of success and impact, in my opinion. “Wild Hearts”, “Nightfalls”, “Brown Eyes Baby”, “Street Called Main” and “Straight Line” were all reviewed by this site, and each track is unique, and each is incredibly catchy and poppy. Still a bonafide country artist, Keith reminds us through his music and especially in these songs, that he marries the genre of country and pop quite well, and that his song-writing in general is to be aspired to.
With Jon covering Keith and his biography and his music quite extensively (so there’s no reason for me to rehash old ground), now’s the time for me to voice my thoughts on Keith’s latest single “Messed Up As Me”. We recently reviewed his underwhelming greatest hits album #1’s Volumes 1 & 2 (which was obviously a marketing ploy!); but how does this new single stack up? unfortunately, this melody is as mundane as you can think, and as much of a snoozefest as I feared. Keith has written some good songs in the past, but this isn’t one of them. With lazy writing and repetitive lyrics in the verses, and the sentiment that being messed up as ‘me’ is something that needs to be championed and glorified… well, I mean it’s not a bad song per se, but it’s just that it doesn’t resonate as much with me as it could’ve. Keith’s songwriting has been so much more resounding and engaging. But I suppose when you’re in the game for 20-odd years, you can afford a few slip ups, am I right?
Even though this greatest hits project is only ‘alright’, as well as “Messed Up As Me”; can I say I still have high hopes for THE SPEED OF NOW PT 2, releasing sometime this year or next year, based on the previous 5 singles? Even if it is half as good as its predecessor, then it’ll be fantastic. Songs like “Nightfalls”, “Messed Up As Me” and “Street Called Main” aren’t fantastic like the other 3 stand-alone singles. But kudos still needs to be given for Keith’s commitment and passion which is still on display. But just because this melody doesn’t resonate as much with me now, doesn’t mean that it won’t in the future. And so, I’ll leave you with a question. Do you abandon someone’s discography just because you don’t resonate with one song or one specific body of work? Would you give an artist a chance if you love one song and are indifferent to the rest of their discography? Something to think about and ponder, that’s for sure! And hopefully, Keith Urban’s upcoming new album impresses on us all greatly! And if it doesn’t, that’s ok too!
Score: 3/5
RIYL: Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Lady A, Lainey Wilson, Maddie & Tae