Southside

by Sam Hunt

Overview

If it seems like it took Sam Hunt a long time to deliver his second album, because it did. It took nearly six years, to be precise, with Southside arriving in April of 2020, a very long time after the release of Montevallo in 2014. Back then, Montevallo was rushed into stores because "Leave the Night On" became a sensation online and on air, helping to usher in a new era of country-pop where singer after singer attempted to emulate Hunt's blend of sensual modern-R&B, pop melodies and country signifiers. Hunt was hardly quiet during this half-decade. He wound up shattering Billboard Hot Country Songs records in 2017 with "Body Like a Back Road," a sexy, laid-back number that wound up spending a staggering 34 weeks at the top of the charts. Most artists would hurry out an album to capitalize on such success but Hunt didn't, perhaps because "Downtown's Dead" -- the 2018 sequel to "Body Like a Back Road" -- wound up being a comparative stiff, not even cracking the Top Ten. "Kinfolks" righted his course in 2019, reaching number one on Billboard's Country Airplay, and helping to set up the release of Southside in 2020. All those pre-release songs -- which also includes 2017's "Drinkin' Too Much," as well as "Sinning with You" and "Hard to Forget," which were issued in 2020 prior to the album -- do give Southside the slightest air of being old news, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hold together as an album. It coheres because Hunt remains ensconced in his wheelhouse, mining the sleek country-R&B groove he minted on Montevallo and deepened with "Body Like a Back Road." Whenever he makes a slight departure from this sound -- as he does with the opening "2016," a straight-ahead country weeper that contains not a whisper of electronics -- he winds up underscoring how seamless his fusion of soul and country usually is, but he isn't infallible. His speak-singing on "That Ain't Beautiful" and "Drinkin' Too Much" pulls him toward a good ol' boy persona that doesn't jibe with his easy touch, while "Hard to Forget" stumbles upon its incongruous sample of Webb Pierce's honky tonk standard "There Stands a Glass," with Pierce's piercing nasal twang commanding attention in a way Hunt's soft, unassuming voice never does. He's at his best when he slides into his surroundings, riding the cool grooves without breaking a sweat, singing love songs like they're party tunes and vice-versa. And that's what most of Southside is: mellow, multi-purpose country-pop designed to soundtrack good times at home, on the road, at the office, or at a bar. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	04/03/2020
Label:	Mca
UPC:	0602508742644

Tracks

1. 2016
2. Hard to Forget
3. Kinfolks
4. Young Once
5. Body Like a Back Road
6. That Ain't Beautiful
7. Let It Down
8. Downtown's Dead
9. Nothing Lasts Forever
10. Sinning With You
11. Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90's
12. Drinkin' Too Much

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sam Hunt   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar (Electric),Guitar
Stuart Hine   Primary Artist,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Guitar,Vocals
Justin Ostrander   Guitar (Electric)
Sol Littlefield   Guitar (Electric)
Jamil Chammas   Guitar (Electric)
Josh Burkett   Guitar
Joshua Sales   Drums
Tyrone Carreker   Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Charlie Handsome   Guitar (Acoustic)
Bryce Cain   Keyboards,Guitar (Acoustic)
Nir Z   Drums
Gideon Boley   Banjo,Pedal Steel,Guitar (Acoustic)
Tim Braisted   Bass,Vocals (Background)
Ian Fitchuk   Organ,Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Russell Terrell   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Russ Pahl   Dobro,Keyboards,Pedal Steel
Jimmie Lee Sloas   Bass
Joshua Burkett   Guitar (Electric)
Evan Hutchings   Drums
Ilya Toshinskiy   Banjo,Dobro,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Dave Cohen   Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Jenee Fleenor   Fiddle,Keyboards,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Devin Malone   Cello,Fiddle,Guitar,Pedal Steel,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Scotty Sanders   Dobro,Pedal Steel
Jerry Flowers   Vocals (Background)
Bryan Sutton   Keyboards,Guitar (Acoustic)
Josh Osborne   Guitar,Pedal Steel,Vocals (Background)
Derek Wells   Guitar (Electric)
Scott Johnson   Rap
Josh Matheny   Dobro,Guitar (Acoustic)
Anthony Olympia   Dobro
Luke Laird   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Chris Lacorte   Banjo,Keyboards,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Zach Crowell   Bass,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Sam Hunt   Composer
Kam Luchterhand   Assistant Engineer
Emily Weisband   Composer
Charlie Handsome   Composer,Producer,Programming
Bryce Cain   Producer,Programming
Ernest K.   Composer
Ernest Keith Smith   Composer
Zach Kuhlman   Assistant Engineer
Shane McAnally   Composer
Russ Hull   Composer
Ashley Gorley   Composer
Logan Matheny   Engineer
Josh Thompson   Composer
Audrey Grisham   Composer
Nick Autry   Recording
Andrew Mendelson   Engineer,Mastering Engineer
Jerry Flowers   Composer
Bryan Sutton   Programming
Paul DiGiovanni   Composer
Josh Osborne   Composer
Mary Jean Shurtz   Composer
Matt Jenkins   Composer
Jim Cooley   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Scott Johnson   Production Coordination
Luke Laird   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming
Stuart Hine   Composer
Chris Lacorte   Composer
Zach Crowell   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Recording,Programming
Billy Decker   Mixing