But will this make her the Next Carrie Underwood?
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[5.33]
Alfred Soto: “It has received positive reviews for her ‘flirtatious age-appropriate lyrics.'” That’s a lot of hype to live down.
[4]
Thomas Inskeep: Pretty aces: Alaina has a good voice, and “Next Boyfriend” is a good song, produced sympathetically. Proof that “young country” doesn’t have to be dirty words, because this targets a younger demographic smartly.
[7]
Jonathan Bogart: Taylor Swift’s dynamics weren’t what made her one of the most interesting country songwriters of the last decade, but that’s the easiest thing to replicate for the next generation.
[5]
Megan Harrington: Alaina borrows from Sam Hunt’s “Ex To See” hook liberally, swapping ex for next like a quill pen tipped in the general direction of plagiarism. Still, these days everything sounds like something and better it be something good than the pickled strains of authentic country.
[6]
Patrick St. Michel: This unfolds near apocalyptically, with its slow pace and big vocal moments. Which is fine, except I’m not sure it really matches up with the lyrics at all and should maybe make whoever Lauren Alaina is addressing run for higher ground.
[4]
Will Adams: The chorus announces itself like it’s some crushing revelation, but it’s more like a belly flop onto the obvious. Like most Idol alumni, Lauren Alaina hits all the technical checkboxes but few more.
[5]
Anthony Easton: I love how she sings “white T-shirt,” and the Sam Hunt-worthy swagger. It gets even better near the first bridge where it speeds up into a perfect pop-country chorus.
[8]
Edward Okulicz: She’s certainly listened to Taylor Swift’s way with phrasing (I’m thinking “Wonderland” peeks out through the chorus). Alas, this needs a spark of her own and a modicum of restraint rather than hanging the climax on whether you care about her high notes, which feels like a sop to her Idol past than the pop present she’s going to struggle mightily in.
[5]
Micha Cavaseno: Soothsayer and observer Lauren comes through with the predictable country-pop backing and the determination that sells a kind of connect-the-dots single as well as one can. To her credit, she does it lyrically and she does it musically, but it wouldn’t hurt to squiggle those lines up a little with some kind of stamp of personal affect.
[4]