Thank goodness Lee Ann Womack is not one of them. In an era where “Stay” and “More Like Her” are considered risky radio releases simply for being un-chipper acoustic ballads that aren’t by Taylor Swift or a dude, Womack has gone ahead and picked a slow-burning lounge number about holing up in a bar and feeling sorry for yourself. Atta girl.
Of course, it’s true that “Solitary Thinkin'” probably won’t sound very appealing on the freeway. The track is so exact in portraying the mood and circumstances of Womack’s situation that it demands nothing less from its listener – which is to say, you kind of have to be a little blue, a little resigned, and maybe a little drunk to get the full experience. It’s just not designed for everyday life. This baby is about winding down.
And fortunately, it does that pretty well. You’ll hear a few words that sound like they were originally conceived just to take up space (“try to find a way to kind of sort of maybe work it out” is a lazy swing-and-miss at personality), and as astutely as Womack interprets it all, her voice doesn’t have the particular kind of color that might knock something like this out of the park (imagine if, for example, Ray Charles sang it). But they could definitely make some good money bundling this in with specially marked bottles of Cabernet.
Grade: B+
Listen: Solitary Thinkin’
Buy:
Okay, okay, I like it. There’s hope for me yet with Lee Ann Womack.:) The only thing that I could live without is the reverb on the vocal track. I really don’t like it when people use that recording technique.
I’m not really sure how I feel about this song but I think it’s the same way I felt about Billy Currington’s “Don’t.” It’s too lounge/elevator music for my tastes. Hopefully it grows on me because I like Lee Ann Womack.
Love this song! I just love the line “Well I only came into this bar to hear a sad song
But I’ll probably be here all night long
The way I’m feeling now”…
But I’d also like to see ‘New Again” as a single, that is probably my favourite song from the album.
I love this song- I’ll hold further comments for my upcoming review…
This is the kind of songs lee ann should be singing – her voice rang is so lovely n her facial expressions are great
I was hoping for “The Bees” or “I Think I Know” for the new single but this was my next pick anyway. I don’t see radio latching on to this one because It’s really similar to Last Call, but you never know.
“I Think I Know” would be a good one. I would like to see “The Bees”, but to me that screams “fan favorite album cut.” It’s just too weird for radio. I’d really love to see either “Either Way” or “If These Walls Could Talk” as a single, but I’m expecting “I Found it in You”, “The Story of My Life” or the duet with George.
“Everything But Quits” sounds like a really likely single, but I agree hearing “The Bees” on the radio would be interesting. “The Story Of My Life” also sounds like it could be a really big hit, just like “I Hope You Dance”. “Either Way” is an amazing song, but I think it’s too emotionally complex for radio…