Album Review – Flatland Cavalry’s “Work of Heart”

Texas Country (#550.3) on the Country DDS. AI = clean

Flatland Cavalry’s fifth studio album gets you excited with a clever title and really cool cover art, and then delivers upon the ambitious expectations these things set with strongly infectious songs that don’t coast when it comes to substance.

Work of Heart is a wholly appropriate title for this album that feels like it was made by hand, sewn together with love, and presented to the world earnestly without any pretentiousness to hopefully entertain, enrich, enliven, and fulfill, ultimately accomplishing these goals with its 12 tracks.

With the band’s last album Wandering Star, Flatland Cavalry included some good songs, but also left open some questions about who they really were as a band, and where they were going. Formed in Lubbock, TX, then moving to Nashville after signing to major labels and big management companies, it was as if Flatland Cavalry was searching for something that was out of their reach or beyond their borders as opposed to trying best the best version of themselves.

Work of Heart finds the band getting back on track, and not just by hovering closer to their original sound, but perfecting and refining it, and living up to the standard they set with earlier works. Just like Flatland’s 2021 album Welcome To Countryland, you’re delighted and maybe even surprised by the country-ness of this album, especially the prominence of the fiddle, though they also remain in that country rock realm indicative of Texas music and Red Dirt.

The Work of Heart experience is one of coming across really sonically enjoyable songs with immediate, wide, and lasting appeal, while also delivering the kind of heartfelt songwriting you’ve come to expect from Flatland Cavalry. Singer, primary songwriter, and frontman Cleto Cordero has never presented well as the troubled poet or the highlonesome cowboy. He’s too well-adjusted for all that. But he does have a way with words, and matching those words with strong melodies.

Once again the band worked with producer Dwight Baker who helped them find a lot of good grooves, varying textures and moods, and some interesting and unexpected moments to make Work of Heart a great listening record with only a few songs that feel like filler. This is the album you wanted from them.

Flatland Cavalry is that band that can headline a community festival in Texas, or warm up the stage for Morgan Wallen in arenas. When they’re hitting on all cylinders, the appeal is wide, the songs are sumptuous, and the moments deep. That’s what this album captures, set to the rhythm of a heartbeat.

(song reviews below)

8.2/10

Flatland Cavalry is Cleto Cordero, Reid Dillon on guitar, Wesley Hall on fiddle, Jonathan Saenz on bass, Jason Albers on drums, and keyboard/multi-instrumentalist Adam Gallegos.

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Stream/Purchase Work of Heart

1. Gone

Work of Heart starts off with a traveling songs and a good one. You can’t chase a dream by standing still, and you can’t find what you’re looking for without searching for it. “Gone” really sets a good mood and and good sonic expectations for the rest of the album.

2. On and On

A twin fiddle start off and half-time beat makes this country love song immediately sit right with you. You even hear a more pronounced twang in Cleto Cordero’s voice than we’ve heard before. One of the things this album gets right over and over is finding the right groove and tempo, and then laying down in it.

3. Bird’s Eye View

You want to start rolling your eyes when this song first starts, only because the adjacent airline seat hookup song had kind of become a cliché. But “Bird’s Eye View” reveals itself to be something more than that. And like so many of the songs on this album, the melody is just too rich to resist, especially since it’s built off the fiddle.

4. Never Comin’ Back

This is not a bad song at all, but it was the lead single from the album that was sent to radio, and became the 2nd “most added” on its debut week. It’s the little bits of extra production, namely the secondary vocal parts that waft in and out that make the track feel a little fluffy. But hey, it’s far from the worst thing you might hear played on a country radio station.

5. Unglued

This might be the least “country” song on the album. It also might be the best song on the album. “Unglued” is Cleto Cordero at his infectious best. What’s written as a heartbreak song shouldn’t be such a joy to listen to. It’s one of those songs that’s so good you might think you’re supposed to hate it. But you don’t, even the heavily stylized outtro.

6. Life, Love, and Happiness

This song feels like the “heart” of this album, even if it’s not officially the title track. After a couple of heavily-produced songs, Cleto Cordero takes it down a notch and shows off his songwriting side. In fact, this might be the best song Cleto Cordero has ever written, with an assist from co-writer Jason Nix. “When you’re dreaming with your heart, ain’t no need to close your eyes…” Cordero sings in one of the many spine-tingling moments from the song. Even the exhale at the beginning is perfect.

7. Flicker

Smart writing takes the idea of brief moments in time, a flicker in lights, and interweaves them with a love narrative and the passage of time. “Flicker” carries through the understated moment from the previous song and makes for a good emotional reset in the middle of the record. The track probably won’t threaten for the most-played song on the album. But it’s a good one nonetheless.

8. Work of Heart

The title track is good for reminding us that being a good person or being in a relationship is something that is worth laboring at, like a work of art, to constantly try and perfect as opposed to let sit on the shelf, neglect, or take for granted. Since the human heart is inherently flawed, that masterpiece is rarely if ever achieved. But it’s really the “work” and the effort that is key.

9. Long Goodnight

Similar to “Bird’s Eye View,” “Long Goodnight” utilizes a very common setting for a country song, but doesn’t really find any new ground to tread with it. Though it might be effective in welling nostalgia in the audience reflecting back on teenage love, it doesn’t really deliver a hook or a message. It’s fine as album filler though.

10. Nightshine

“Nightshine” is a good late night love song that sets its intended mood, even if it doesn’t really go anywhere remarkable. There’s some really great instrumentation and arrangement on this track, especially from the fiddle of Wesley Hall.

11. Real Slow

One of the best songs on the album, this is a great encapsulation of everything that Texas music is best at. You could just live in the groove of this song indefinitely and never feel tired of it. It puts you in the mood of a Saturday night at a Texas dancehall soaking up suds, music, and good times.

12. All or Nothing

“All or Nothing” continues on the Saturday night Texas dancehall vibe. The higher register doesn’t always compliment Cleto Cordero’s voice, but it’s hard to hate on a song like this to finish out the album.