Album Review: Hannah Ellis “That Girl”

Sporting a stunning pop rhythm and casual country twang, there’s an argument to be made that there’s something for just about everyone in the song “Somebody Else,” but if you think this track is the only piece of versatile songcraft in the new album That Girl  from rising country star Hannah Ellis, you’re in for one heck of a surprise. In songs like “Somebody Else,” the anthemic “Wine Country,” the ode  “Country Can,” and early Taylor-esque “Plans,” Ellis presents herself with a charm that is normally found only in an elite class of country singer/songwriters with at least a couple of records under their belt – and yet this is her first full-length. Through an intensely melodic character that leads us from one track to the next seamlessly, this player makes it pretty obvious to the audience that she isn’t looking to simply strike a pose and ride a wave of country music enthusiasm into stardom. On the contrary, her moxie isn’t letting her give up anything but the sort of harmonies that Nashville needs a lot more of this January and beyond.

“Karma on the Rocks” and “Us” offer us a glimpse at the fragility of Ellis’ voice when it isn’t being put into a pressurized arrangement, and when coupled with the evenhanded production quality of both songs, I think it’s hard to argue against there being a stronger showing of vocal prowess on this LP. Nonetheless, she doesn’t produce anything but a sterling attitude at the helm of her material, allowing for “Plans,” “Someone Else’s Heartbreak,” and “Home and a Hometown” to sound a bit more sophisticated than they would have in another scenario. She’s got a level of swagger that is surprising to find at this point in her career, but I suppose if I had a voice as strong as hers, I’d be enormously confident going into the studio day or night. Her timing is spot-on, but it’s her tone that strikes me as the boldest attribute for her to be proud of in That Girl. Truth be told, I think that she has even more room to develop, which is telling considering just how much power she’s bringing us in every one of the lines we find her singing here.

Whether it be the title track, “Replaceable,” or the unforgettable semi-closer “One of These Days,” there’s a lot of aesthetical space in this album that other LPs just aren’t covering, and it says a lot about who this artist is and where she’s going with her career. There are a lot of singer/songwriters trying to get after the soft surrealism element in various ways right now, but there aren’t many in country who are developing a sense of traditionalist melodicism beside a unique approach that stands up beside anything in the mainstream Nashville scene today. I think Hannah Ellis is poised for some amazing achievements in the next few years, and after you listen to her work in That Girl, I think most country-pop fans are going to think so, too.

       

J. Munoz