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Summary:
The second full-length release for the Nashville-based singer-songwriter
was produced with Jarrad Kritzstein.
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- Record Label: Rounder
- Genre(s): Country, Alt-Country, Americana, Pop/Rock, Alternative Country-Rock, Contemporary Country
- More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
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Positive: 7 out of 7
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Mixed: 0 out of 7
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Negative: 0 out of 7
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Sep 4, 2020Musical transcendence is a rare thing, but you can literally feel the weights being lifted on this album. It’s all so lush, airy, and pristine; a soundtrack for second chances.
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Sep 1, 2020Both knowing and nuanced, its 13 songs share Kelly’s determination to maintain his sobriety following his earlier struggles with alcoholism and drug dependency. It is, in the truest sense, both a vindication that his vulnerability was sorely needed, and that he’s wholly committed to his craft. It is, in fact, one of the best albums released so far this year.
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Sep 1, 2020Where Dying Star offered only glimmers of hope that Kelly’s garden would someday flourish, Shape & Destroy is a modestly verdant landscape as far as the eye can see—maybe not “tall and purposed” quite yet, but healthy, happy and headed that way.
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Sep 1, 2020All this adds up to an album well-suited for moments of introspection, moments when a listener is searching for sustenance and reassurance somewhere outside of themselves.
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Sep 8, 2020His talent for frank, moderately depressing songwriting is still displayed, but the new album doesn’t have quite the candor and quality of his first full-length.
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Sep 1, 2020Along with co-producer Jarrad K, Kelly gives the album a soft feel. His voice fits in well to the smoothed out Americana, and he does well not to give the record a countrypolitan lushness. With the music sounding just thick enough, it lets him find space for more subtle moments.
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Oct 6, 2020While not every instrumental makes a lasting impression, the sentiment behind them drives the album forward and makes it easy to connect to Kelly as a songwriter. With Shape and Destroy, Ruston Kelly delivers an unvarnished and genuine look at a man in recovery and a loving tribute to those who made it possible.
Score distribution:
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Positive: 0 out of 1
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Mixed: 0 out of 1
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Negative: 1 out of 1
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Apr 23, 2023This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
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