EP Review: Kane Brown’s ‘Chapter 1′
While some songs on 'Chapter 1' leave a greater mark than others, Brown's EP encompasses five tracks that are enough to satiate his fans' wait for the full-length album.
Kane Brown has come a long way from recording cover songs and uploading them to YouTube. The 22-year-old Georgia native has expanded his catalog to original tunes and those songs are the product of his new five-song EP Chapter 1.
“My career started with the fans and Chapter 1 is just the beginning” he says. “The love and support I’ve gotten for these songs first out on the road and now with Chapter 1 is crazy. I am so grateful and excited for this EP and also for what is coming in the future. This is Chapter 1 and I can’t wait for everyone to hear the rest of the story.”
Released today, Brown’s major label debut EP is a taste of what’s to come for the country singer and no doubt will satisfy his ever-growing fan base. He co-wrote four of the five tracks on the EP and while his deep voice soars, the production occasionally comes as a distraction.
“Wide Open,” written by Brown, Corey Crowder and Justin Lantz, features heavy guitar parts and drum loops. A song that discusses living in the moment out in the country on a two-lane highway, the music diverts the attention from the song’s lyrics. With a voice as memorable as Brown’s, less polished production could have helped the track soar. Meanwhile, “Excuses” puts Brown’s voice front and center where it belongs as he laments of a girlfriend who keeps telling lies.
Originally released independently last year, Brown’s debut single “Used to Love You Sober” features Brown’s deep vocals as he passionately sings of being brokenhearted and trying to survive a breakup through liquor.
“Now the only way I know that I can get you off my mind / Is to keep a bottle so close, try to leave it all behind . . . I used to think you’d never say it’s over / I used to love you sober,” he sings.
Brown has described his music as Chris Young’s voice on a Sam Hunt track and it isn’t a far off stretch. Songs like “Last Minute Late Night” are easy to envision being sung by Young while the fast-paced slick beats are reminiscent to something Hunt would cut. Brown even enlisted the help of Young on the EP’s final track, “There Goes My Everything,” which he and Young co-wrote with Josh Hoge and Matthew McVaney. Brown shines on the radio-friendly song, which is an ode to a girl who, fittingly, is his everything. “When I see her face I can’t help but think, there goes my everything,” he sings.
While some songs on Chapter 1 leave a greater mark than others, Brown’s EP encompasses five tracks that are enough to satiate his fans’ wait for the full-length album.
