As she shares a kiss with her lover in a hotel lobby, she pleads for more, curious about what he was like as a younger man, back before they met - when he lived in Chicago, smoked and was driven by adventure. This song, which Wade penned with Sadler Vaden (longtime guitarist for Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit), melds rock textures, folk-pop sensibilities, precise vocals and a troubadour’s unflinching lyrics. ![]() With her auspicious debut album Reckless, Wade has staked her claim as an undeniable new artist with something to say and the musicality to back it up. Combs’ vocal vitriol spills out over this country stomp, especially on the imagery-filled line, “Them cinder block walls ain’t ever been cleaned/ Still ain’t as dirty as you done me.” –M.N. ![]() On this driving track, he’s the poor sap (or “broke heart fool on an old bar stool”) drowning his sorrows in a juke joint, done in by a cruel-hearted woman. Part of what makes Combs such an exemplary songwriter - he wrote “Cold as You” with Randy Montana, Jonathan Singleton and Shane Minor - is the utter relatability of almost any situation he finds himself in. Following his previous hit “On My Way to You,” this song is another solid song setting up Johnson as a fast-rising country music force not to be denied. “If you’ve got a dream, chase it/ ‘cause a dream won’t chase you back,” Johnson sings, the intensity in his voice making it clear that though he didn’t write this track, he connects with every lyric. Though Texas native Johnson is a writer on the bulk of his songs, he turns to tunesmiths Matt Rogers and Ben Stennis on this one. Sonically, it radiates the kind of clean, throwback ’90s country sound reminiscent of Alan Jackson and George Strait. ![]() This straightforward country single from Johnson’s Human: The Double Album offers a powerful lesson in making the most of every moment - whether you’re spending time with loved ones or doggedly pursuing a goal. A former bull rider and now a formidable country entertainer, Johnson knows plenty about running down a dream.
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