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Keith Urban - Defying Gravity
- Keith Urban’s title of his latest album, “Defying Gravity,” may not be the physical effect one may get when listening to the CD, but that doesn’t mean your spirit won’t soar while listening to these 11 new tracks, more than half written or co-written by the New Zealand-born country star.
The album takes off with the revealing and jumpy “Kiss a Girl.” The song begins with guitar strumming that evokes anticipation and excitement of what’s to come. It tells about a man’s desire to find that special woman and show her his affection. While singing about lighting up the sky and making magic while crossing this line, Urban lights the song, too, mirroring the enthusiasm displayed in that special moment.
Although much different from “Kiss a Girl,” “‘Til Summer Comes Around” stands out as another one of the album’s strongest tracks. Beginning with joyous noises of summer—roller coaster rides, young people screaming with enthusiasm, and a merry-go-ground—the song quickly turns to rolling waves and a slow guitar and drums that altogether create a slow, melancholic sound and mood that dominate the rest of the song. Urban’s longing voice and sad tone tell the story of a man reminiscing about a summer romance that ended when his lover left at the end of the season. He sings the song so descriptively and so intensively that you can see him wandering by the beach alone and feel the desperation in his soul at the memory of the woman who used to be his.
In a different way, “Hit the Ground Runnin’” conveys a strong sense of feeling with its fast booming rock sound and a play on a common cliché. Urban sings about how he won’t sit around crying if his lover ever left him. Instead, he’d be out of there as fast as he could. Running after her. Although stated briefly at the end of the chorus, the bridge magnifies the actual meaning of the song: “So if you gotta go baby I won’t stop you / And I won’t sit around and miss you, no no no / ‘Cause if you leave I’m a coming with you / I’m coming with you baby.”
Even though Urban presents strong content for most of this album, one of the songs, “Only You Can Love Me This Way,” does not possess the same wonder, excitement or feeling as the rest of the tracks do. The song’s tone is sad, slow and drawn out. The lyrics are bright, saying that there is only one person who can love him that way and that the couple was meant to be together, but Urban sings them so softly and quietly that it makes them sound gloomy.
Despite its one shortcoming—and a pretty small shortcoming at that—the album is overall one of Urban’s finest productions. Although still with the typical Keith Urban sound, the album does have something different. Instead of the poppy and catchy but well-crafted songs Urban has created in the past, these songs convey a better feeling and take you to a higher level than you were with his last album. Urban recently told the Raleigh News & Observer that these songs are new and describe where he is at in life right now.
A lot has happened in Urban’s life since he released his last album. A few months after marrying actress Nicole Kidman, he checked into a rehab center for alcohol treatment, according to eonline.com. He had previously been in rehab for cocaine in 1998. He claimed his recent time in treatment saved his career, and even more importantly, his marriage, according to People.com. Since then, the couple had their first child together, Sunday Rose, in July 2008.
Sounds like overcoming addiction, becoming a better husband, and having his first child gives Urban reason enough to defy gravity.
Reviewer: Katelyn Latawiec
new
Reviewer's Rating: 9
Reader's Rating: 10.00
Reader's Votes: 8
Added: 25-Jun-2009
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