Carrie Underwood, Play On
* * * out of four SOLID WORK
This is how to build a career for the long run. On her third outing, the still-blossoming Idol alum with the sterling pipes invites a diverse handful of outsiders to join her proven Nashville-based songwriting/production team. They expand her sound and worldview just enough to perhaps lure more folks to the party while satisfying country radio programmers and her loyalists.
That approach pays off with the first two songs: Hip-hop bassist/producer Mike Elizondo imparts a daring dance-hall flavor to the single Cowboy Casanova, and Swedish producer Max Martin blends traditional country instruments into his signature of-the-moment pop sound on Quitter. Underwood's rendering stays in your head, as do her "un- un- un- un-" hip-hop stutters on Undo It (Idol judge Kara DioGuardi is a collaborator) and the naked emotions expressed on Unapologize, written with Hillary Lindsey and Canadian singers/songwriters Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida.
Counterbalancing her embrace of urban flavoring is Carrie's pure country heart: She sounds sincerely at home on Mama's Song and the weepers Someday When I Stop Loving You and What Can I Say. The grander spiritual statements of Temporary Home and Change follow a familiar route. And only Nashville pros can produce kiss-off catchphrases like "If it wasn't for guys like you, there wouldn't be songs like this," from Songs Like This.
By offering a little something for everyone, Underwood serves notice that she'll be playing on this field for quite some time. –
>Download: Quitter, Undo It, Someday When I Stop Loving You, Songs Like This, Unapologize
Skip: Look at Me, This Time
Source: USA Today
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