Simply one of the most underrated artists around.
Three years after the release of Wild World, Kip Moore is back with his fifth studio album, Damn Love. The singer/songwriter, known for his belting vocals and introspective lyrics, has continually put out some of the most consistent and interesting music in country, since his debut album, Up All Night, in 2012.
11 years and four albums later, Moore proves he’s just getting better with age.
Damn Love was first announced by Moore with the release of the titular track on February 23rd. On first listen, it appeared that he was leaning into an 80s synth rock-inspired sound. However, with the release of the 90s country-inspired Kinda Bar, it became clear that he was going to experiment with different sounds and styles throughout the record.
The 13 tracks on this album include the two aforementioned pre-released tracks, Damn Love and Kinda Bar. Missing, however, are both of Moore’s 2022 singles, Fire On Wheels and the Morgan Wade duet, If I Was Your Lover.
In typical Kip Moore fashion, he takes you on a journey full of love, loss, and reflection throughout the 52-minute record. As a co-writer on 12 of the 13 tracks, Moore’s excellent songwriting is once again front-and-center onDamn Love.
The eighth track, Another Night In Knoxville, feels like the stand-out of the record; it’s no surprise that it’s Moore’s favorite.
You know it changes by the day. It seems to depend on what kind of mood I’m in. If I had to say, I’d say ‘Another Night In Knoxville.’
It captures the longing nature of Wild World’s Janie Blue and combines it with the career-reflecting nature of Slowheart’s Guitar Man.
The eleventh track on the album, One Heartbreak, feels like a match made in heaven. Moore is accompanied by fellow singer/songwriter, Ashley McBryde. In fact, he knew while writing it that this was the perfect song for McBryde to appear on.
I have never written a song in mind with someone else singing with me. When I got past the first chorus, I said to myself, this is the perfect song to get Ashley to sing on, and we barely even knew each other at the time.
Listen to Another Night In Knoxville and One Heartbreak here:
