When a band is in the middle of their second decade of making hits, you know they’re doing something right and that’s exactly what Eli Young Band is doing as they’ve continued to blend their Texas music roots with contemporary country’s modern flourishes. They continue this trend with their eighth album Love Talking. The album, which features eight new songs, showcases the band at their best with the opening title track setting the mood for the record while “Lucky For Me” brings vibes from the earlier years with a mid tempo rock melody backing up the ear worm of a chorus which finds a man smitten with the woman of his dreams, the one he thought that didn’t exist.
There’s a modern rockin’, honky tonkin’ vibe to “Break Up In A Bar,” a song which, in all honesty, could be a hit in the future. The song’s jovial melody provides a sunny vibe to the glass half full outlook about the location where a relationship ends. That song is followed up by “Love Ain’t,” a recent #1 which hadn’t been on a proper album from EYB until now. These two songs represent the only two on this 8 track album that weren’t co-written by Eli Young Band’s frontman Mike Eli. (Love Talking has acoustic version of the title track as the final track)
The songs on Love Talking certainly contain matters of the heart and while that probably places the album firmly within the “Boyfriend Country” sub-genre which has dominated country in the post-bro country world, it’s a place where Eli Young Band has always comfortably sat. They’ve always sang more songs that were matters of the heart than anything in the party till the cows come home vibe that was the “Bro Country” era. Country’s also received a bit of a throwback to the 90s and 2000s sonic landscape which is also a place where Eli Young Band can sit comfortably (take a listen to “Tell Me It Is” or “A Good Thing” to see this in action). And, in all honesty, this is why Eli Young Band is still around making hits and records. They’re a band that’s always done their own thing within country music and while trends change, they remain remarkably consistent and Love Talking is another strong showcase of a band that remains at the top of their game.
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