Album Review: Lee Brice’s Self-Titled Album

Lee Brice's self-titled album is filled with songs about real life and lyrics that instantly connect with listeners. 

Written by Chuck Dauphin
Album Review: Lee Brice’s Self-Titled Album
Lee Brice; Cover art courtesy Marushka Media

Though Lee Brice recorded his new disc long before the events of Las Vegas on October 1, it seems as the Curb recording artist was thinking about life’s priorities as he was working on this, his self-titled fourth album. Many of the songs on this album have a sense of urgency about just how important life is – likely something we will be seeing quite a bit of over the next album cycle from many of our favorite artists – which is very understandable.

For Brice, the album leads off in this manner with a thought-provoking up-tempo number, where Brice asks the listener to contemplate what is truly important in life. “Little Things” seems like a party-type song from the outside in, but even on this song, about the pleasures of having your girl, your dog, and a cold beer, there seems to be a sense of being content in the moment. If nothing else, Brice sounds like he is having a great deal of fun.

Working with the highly-esteemed Warren Haynes on this disc, Brice strikes a serious tone more often than not, with “Boy,” the album’s first single, definitely striking a chord with anyone who has ever raised a son. It’s a lyric that is heart-tugging and effective. Brice then swings for the rafters on the glorious “Dixie Highway,” which he co-wrote with Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame member Matraca Berg. It’s definitely one of the more unique sounding tracks on the album, giving Brice a chance to exude a little bit of his South Carolina soul.

Other highlights on the self-titled release include the vocal tour de force sound of “’I Don’t Smoke,” which pairs him with Haynes to great effect. Look for this energetic track to become a single at some point, as Brice gives perhaps the best vocal performance of this career on the song. He conjures up a little bit of his inner Conway Twitty on the mood-setting “Rumor,” which could very well be a single of the summer of 2018 with its’ smoldering southern passion.

At the end of the day, the best material on this disc comes from real life and appreciating your blessings of what you have in life. It’s a sentiment that comes across on such cuts as the moving “Songs In The Kitchen,” as well as the masterfully-written “Story To Tell (Little Bird),” which the singer penned alongside with pop powerhouse Edwin McCain and Phillip Lammonds. The moving lyrics prove that we’ve all got a past, a present, and a future, something that we all have to embrace and accept from one another. It’s a message that perhaps is more timely than ever, and Brice delivers many such messages on this lyrically powerful disc!