Corey Kent Makes a Career-Defining Statement with Heartland Rock and Roll
Review by Lauren Page | @LiveWithLP
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Corey Kent is one of the most underrated artists in country music. If you’re still sleeping on him, Heartland Rock and Roll is a fairly loud wake-up call.
I’ve been here since the Blacktop days, spending an unreasonable amount of time with Wild as Her, Something’s Gonna Kill Me and How You Know You Made It on repeat. Corey has always been able to move between styles while keeping that unmistakable voice at the centre of it all. On his third studio album, though, he sounds ready to turn everything up.
Motorbike opens with a sound longtime fans will recognise. It’s a comfortable way into the record, but I can already picture it tearing through a live set. Then Rocky Mountain Low with Koe Wetzel takes things somewhere moodier. I wouldn’t have thought to put those voices together, yet they fit so well that now I’m wondering when we’re getting more.
Of course, there’s Empty Words. Yes, the lyrics are a little saucy. Yes, I’ve noticed that happening more than once on this album. But beneath the heat is a brilliantly written song, and Corey knows exactly how to sell every line.
Muscle Memory keeps the pace moving before Wannabe gives me the Corey Kent I discovered my obsession with in the first place. It’s romantic, the strings are gorgeous, and the whole thing feels like a film playing out as you listen. If somebody wants to make a music video worthy of this song, please get on with it.
One of my biggest standouts is Everyday Life. Corey reflects on his success and the things he’s grateful for, and it feels completely sincere. Gratitude has always come through in his music. Here, it gives the album some heart amid all that rock and roll.
Then Cherokee Blvd brings the grit back. The guitars push forward, Corey’s rasp sounds fantastic, and you can hear just how well this new era suits him. The Nail slows things right down, while Adios (The Way It Goes) and Jesus Comes Back give the middle of the record room to breathe. Even when he takes his foot off the accelerator, his vocal carries the songs.
He puts it straight back down for Rather Be Here with Jason Aldean. It’s one of the rockiest moments on the album and exactly the sort of collaboration I’d want to hear live. Corey, I’m putting that request out there now.
For me, though, Cigarette Burns has the strongest lyrics on the record. It’s slower, it cuts deep, and it lets Corey do what he does best: make a song feel personal without needing to shout. Dirt On Me has that reflective quality too, taking me back to what I loved about How You Know You Made It.
Ol Western Movie begins to wind things down, but Bixby is where the album really caught me off guard. At nearly seven minutes, it has the space to be more than a standard closing stretch. There’s rock, spoken word and a moment of thanks to the people who helped make the record. Hearing that appreciation on the album, rather than tucked away in the credits, is genuinely touching.
But, Corey leaves us with Don’t Stop Now, bringing back some of the heat of Empty Words. Clearly he wasn’t going to send us off quietly.
What makes Heartland Rock and Roll work is that Corey doesn’t have to choose between the romance, the grit and the gratitude. He can give you a song to turn up in the car, follow it with one that makes you sit with your feelings, and make both sound entirely his own.
Corey Kent, you absolute powerhouse. Now, surely we’re overdue a UK tour?
Heartland Rock and Roll by Corey Kent is out now