Album Review: Cody Johnson - "Ain't Nothin’ To It"

If there’s anyone who’s gonna keep it country in 2019's country radio's mainstream , it’s Cody Johnson.

With fifteen tracks, Cody Johnson’s major label debut (released in partnership with Warner Music Nashville) Ain’t Nothin’ To It finds Cody Johnson in fine form. We’ve been following Cody for a few years but when he released his previous album Gotta Be Me a couple years back, that’s when we knew he was ready to make an impact in the mainstream as 2019’s “George Strait,” the traditionalist who manages to find a place on a wide, wild playlist dominated with rhythmic EDM and pop beats and less focus on the lyrics and traditional sounds.

This isn’t to say there’s anything remotely OLD about Ain’t Nothin’ To It. On the contrary, there are plenty of modern radio ready songs on the record. Particularly, “Noise,” a song poised to be a hit follow-up to Cody’s first Top 20 mainstream hit “On My Way To You.” It’s a tempo, concert ready song with interesting keyboards and guitars backing a soothing vocal. “Nothin’ On You” has a “Blue Ain’t Your Color” throwback feel to it’s balladry and guitars while “Where Cowboys Are King” is straight-up fiddle-filled country fun. “Monday Morning Merle” is a fine contemporary country song with a unique lyric.

If country radio doesn’t want to play a sixty something George Strait anymore, they could do worse than to fill his considerable shoes with Cody Johnson making the kind of whiskey smooth country music that radio needs on its dial. Quite simply, there Ain’t Nothin’ To It and this record is quite the soothing collection to listen to.

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