Album Review – Lainey Wilson’s “Whirlwind”

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#530 (Contemporary Pop Country) on the Country DDS.

In years previous, one of the prevailing press narratives in country music was how women performers weren’t receiving enough support. Now Lainey Wilson is the current CMA Entertainer of the Year, while her last album Bell Bottom Country won the CMA, ACM, and Grammy Album of the Year as well. She might still be the exception as opposed to the rule, but arguably nobody is receiving more support from the mainstream country music industry at the moment than Lainey.

Lainey Wilson is most certainly part of the spear tip helping to breed appeal for country in popular music, as well as the resurgence of country sounds in popular country. And after being abandoned by Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves, and Taylor Swift, country music is looking for not just star power, but stability, and loyalty. They believe they have found that in Lainey. That is why she is the Entertainer of the Year, even if she would struggle to make the Top 10 in overall popularity in the genre.

Whirlwind is a good title for what Lainey has been going through over the last few years. She’s not that far removed from living in a travel trailer in Nashville and wondering when her name would finally be called. Now she’s one of the most awarded performers over the last year, with endorsement deals pouring in, and even a spot on the cast of Yellowstone. Her new song “Middle Of It” spells it out well.

Got ya leaning on the Lord while ya under your breath just a cussing
Oh, but one of these days you’re gonna miss these days
When you didn’t even know you were on your way
Knee deep in the weeds, you can only see just a little of it
Smack dab in the middle of it

This is Lainey Wilson’s story in a nutshell, and now that she’s found her way to the mountaintop, you can tell she’s taking nothing for granted. We don’t hear Lainey Wilson letting off the gas on Whirlwind. The album captures some of her most impassioned and soaring performances of her career. Whether it’s the somber “Broken Hearts Still Beat,” the incredible note she sustains near the end of “Call A Cowboy,” or the touching moments of the final track “Whiskey Colored Crayon,” Lainey left it all in the studio iso booth on this one, taking nothing for granted.

A lot of great songs and writing also grace these 14 tracks. Though there’s not a song on here without three writers, there’s also not one of them that doesn’t include Lainey herself. Even the radio friendly singles like “Good Horses” with Miranda Lambert and”4X4XU” co-written by Aaron Raitiere don’t bother you like country radio fare can. “Keep Up With Jones” builds its verses from George Jones references, which is a common tactic in country songs these days. Yet it’s also a good example of how Lainey is helping to keep country music cool.

But if you feel a “but” coming on, that’s not just due to a couple of errant tracks. Detractors and purists will most certainly be clutching their pearls at the song “Ring Finger,” which starts out like a hard rock track, then turns into some sort of kiss off/attitudinal groove thing. Similar to the song “Grease” from her last album Bell Bottom Country, Lainey takes this opportunity to do something funky and fun, and it’s probably so offbeat and out-of-bounds that it’s really not worth worrying about as a signal of a greater direction in her career. It’s just meant to be playful.



What is more disappointing and off-putting is the production work throughout the album by long-time mainstream country producer Jay Joyce. Already notorious for pushing country artists in a more rock direction, he certainly lives up to that reputation on Whirlwind. Though there’s perhaps no popular country artist whose authentic twang makes itself more patently aware in their vocals than Lainey, there might not be a single twangy note played on the entire Whirlwind record.

The complimentary thing would be to call this album “cowboy noir.” But in truth it’s really just pop country. Perhaps Joyce’s theory was that the way to take Lainey to the next level now that she’s ascended the country music mountain was to make her music more palatable to the masses. Most any and all notions of complimenting her country songs and country voice with country music was circumvented for ultra stylized and contemporary sounds that run the fault of not just shirking the roots of Lainey’s sound, but being so heavy-handed as to render the production an outright distraction in certain songs.

What’s even more unnerving is that many of these songs are begging for country instrumentation, yet Jay Joyce never acquiesces. “Call a Cowboy” is a waltz about the leathery nature of rural men, but the music is all spatial pop 808 programming and terrible contemporary guitar tones that sap the ruggedness out of the writing. “Counting Chickens” is screaming for a banjo or a fiddle that never comes.

Lainey Wilson’s last album Bell Bottom Country saw acoustic guitar contributions from Molly Tuttle, including on the hit song “Wildflowers and Wild Horses.” Charlie Worsham also played banjo and mandolin on it. It was a good mix of classic and contemporary country sounds. On Whirlwind, we only get steel guitar and mandolin on a couple of tracks respectively, while “Omnichord synthesizer” and “Farfisa organ” make it into the credits under Jay Joyce’s instrumental contributions.

Lainey Wilson got where she is by being “more country,” even if she wasn’t hardcore country herself. But now that country has gone country, Joyce has taken her in a more contemporary direction. The Post Malone country album F-1 Trillion has way more fiddle, steel guitar, and twang on it. Zach Top is opening for Lainey Wilson on her current tour and is surging in popularity by leaning into country sounds. Everybody wants to be country these days, from Lana Del Rey to singer and hip-hop artist Monica, and Jay Joyce decides this is the time to cut the twang out of Lainey Wilson’s tracks.

The good news for Lainey Wilson and her fans is that the energy she brings to the album, and the quality of the songs feels like it prevails over the obtrusive and ornate production. It will be hard for distinguishing ears to push aside many of the decisions Jay Joyce has made here, if for no other reason than it feels like Joyce and his musical histrionics vie so heavily for your attention.

But if you can move beyond the production, there is still value to be found on this album, some fun and spicy moments, and it might be the greatest showcase of Lainey’s vocal virtues yet.

6.9/10

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