Album Review: Ashley Monroe Is The “Sparrow” of Country Music
Ashley Monroe is a Sparrow. Her new album, of the same title, seemingly embodies the animals’ spirit. The most common species of bird known to humankind; it is vibrantly cinnamon in color, plump in body, powerful in capacity, social in desire, and symbolic of love. Such ideas splash across Monroe’s record.
For one, Ashley Monroe’s voice drops on tracks like “Orphan”, “Daddy I Told You”, and “Wild Love” like cinnamon on hot cocoa. She enriches the sweetness of her lyrics and spikes upward the heat of her situations to provide a record that reminds people: country music can be melodramatic. Yes, country music is often painted as “the humble man’s music”, but, frankly, the more you listen, it is actually very “soap opera-y”. We flock to legendary artists like Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline because they have the capacity to make fun feel like a spectacular and heartbreak feel like a trauma. They live on emotional extremes, which makes them addictive, and Ashley Monroe does the same.
Ashley Monroe – “Hands On You” (Official Music Video)
From “This Heaven” to “Keys To The Kingdom” Monroe sparrows her tracks off the sheer desire to love and be loved. Sometimes, I wonder which one comes first in terms of desiring relationships; is it that we want to give the love we have to another or we want to receive the love we do not have from another? The difference is important, and one Monroe alludes to in “I’m Trying To” and “Hard On Heart”. Some people are givers and others are takers, and Monroe is a giver that feels entrapped by the takers that have thinned her plump heart. “Paying Attention”, “Rita”, and “Hands on You” feel sautéed in strings. Pianos, guitars, violins, etc are used to show love is ultimately a chord you have to learn to play better.
Ashley Monroe – “Wild Love” (Music Video)
Ashley Monroe’ Sparrow is country music finesse. Yes, she had swagged her music style by sonically lathering in what we love most about this meaty genre: ITS DRAMA! For More Information On Ashley Monroe And To Buy Sparrow on April 20 Click Here.
Ashley Monroe – “Paying Attention” (Music Video)
