There is only one song over 4 minutes long on Little Big Town's fifth album Tornado, a drastic departure for a band known for their stunning harmonies and intricate vocal blends and longer than normal songs. The quartet of Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Kimberly Schlapman and Phillip Sweet have been able to score previous ear worm hits like "Boondocks" "Bring It On Home," and "Little White Chuch" but perhaps due to the longish nature of their previous albums songs, Little Big Town has seemingly never been able to gain a consistent string of hits on country radio.
All of this seemingly has changed with "Pontoon," the lead single from Tornado, which not only became an instant hit with radio station programmers but it seemingly scored a lot of love from their peers and also with fans. "Pontoon" became the song of the summer for 2012 and created an immense amount of buzz for Tornado. Also part of the band's newfound success is the teaming with producer Jay Joyce who has helped the band explore new sounds without ever diverging from what has made them the most unique act in modern country music.
All of this uniqueness comes out in the collection of eleven tunes that make up Tornado. From, the lead track on the album "Pavement Ends" to "Sober" to "Leavin' In Your Eyes" to the title track "Tornado," the album finds Little Big Town exploring new sonic sounds and production techniques along with their strong, unique vocal blends. "Tornado" is a song which demands you to listen to it more than one time, with strong and interesting instrumental sounds, a workmanlike industrial percussive beat and whistling. One of five songs to feature Natalie Hemby's name, "Tornado" certainly feels like they stylistic anchor of the album along with one of the better lyrics you're likely to hear from any album released this year.
There is a plethora of potential radio hits including "Tornado," "On Fire Tonight," "Front Porch Thing" and "Your Side Of The Bed" join these as the obvious potential hits but perhaps the biggest potential hit is "Sober," a Lori McKenna, Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey penned track that finds Kimberly singing about not wanting to ever wanting to leave the cocoon of love that feels like the most intoxicating drug one could ever fall under the spell of. It's a song which showcases the new Little Big Town sonically while allowing their glowing harmonies to shine on the chorus.
The quartet may never release the ethereal "Can't Go Back" (some of the best vocal harmonies I've ever heard on a modern country song) or the autobiographical "Self Made," a rockin' song that feels timeless as it explores the up and downs of living a life and chasing a dream to see the fruits of that hard labor. It's a fitting song for a band who has never had the 'easy path' over the course of their 13 years together.
There's an ease about the band throughout the 11 tracks on Tornado and sometimes the band tended to over think each little part of every song they previously did and by letting go of part of that process in choosing to work with Jay Joyce (Eric Church and now Randy Rogers Band's producer), they benefit with the most consistently pleasing record of their career, a record which is both radio-ready and a positive evolutionary step in their career.
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