Love on the Inside

Country rockers from Georgia

The Sugarland was formed in 2003 in the state of Georgia and initially included three members - vocalist Kristen Hall, backing vocalist Jennifer Nettles and multi-instrumentalist Kristian Bush. The debut disc by the band Twice the Speed of Life saw light in 2004 and was noticed by the listeners for the smash hit Baby Girl, which spent forty-six weeks in the country-charts of the USA. The disc itself became twice platinum, spawning several other consecutive big hits and brought the Grammy nomination to Sugarland. However, Kristen Hall decided to leave the collective, as her Sugarland activity did not let her concentrate fully on songwriting. Thus, in 2006, the sophomore attempt Enjoy the Ride did not feature Hall, while Jennifer Nettles became the leading vocalist for Sugarland. Such songs as Want To, Settlin, Everyday America and Stay contributed to the collection of the US country masterpieces. The disc was certified twice platinum, as its predecessor. In order to labor the third album, Love on the Inside, the musicians got the permission of their label Mercury to record the disc in their native Georgia and co-produce their new long-play. This approach proved to be fruitful. Such wonderful singles as All I Want To Do and Already Gone demonstrated that the Sugarland members are at the peak of their masterfulness and sound even better than before.

Love in all its diversity on Love on the Inside

Love on the Inside, according to the traditions of country music, is devoted to the interpersonal relations - particularly, to love and all the emotions that accompany it: euphoria, happiness and gladness. Additionally, on the album Bush and Nettles also dwell upon the dark side of love - grief, treason and hatred. According to the expressiveness and sincerity, which are heard in the album tracks, one can think that they are autobiographical - and it is so. During the record of Love on the Inside Jennifer suffered the divorce with her husband, which was mirrored in such piercing tracks as the philosophic It Happens, desperate Keep You and dark Take Me As I Am. The excellent acoustic work We Run describes the new love and the happiness of discovery. The following Joey, decorated with the mandolin play, is the sorrowful regret for the lost feelings that cannot be revived. The lyrical track Love became, supposedly, the central composition of the album, it can boast of the memorable guitar riffs and thoughtful verses. The romantic and high-aired melody Genevieve is full of country music charm and gospel amusement, while the track Steve Earle will cheer the listeners with its sparkling irony. To the high-tempo remarkable tune Jennifer will sing to the listeners about a poet-polygamist, who wrote songs to every of his wives. The low-key, full of regret melody Very Last Country Song ponders over the roots of country as the genre and the reasons that inspire people to write songs.

Love on the Inside: eclectics and acoustics

The album Love on the Inside was almost wholly done in acoustics. Bush and Nettles recorded in the surroundings of live instruments - mandolins, fortepiano, guitars and others. The sound of the full-length has stylish moments of the electric guitar play here and there, but is almost devoid of the artificial arrangements. This tendency could be easily felt on the first single from the album. Such approach let the artists to transmit the original soul of country to Love on the Inside and create the illusion of presence of a live performance - it is a well-known fact that Sugarland are famous for their concerts. Besides, on this disc one will find almost no percussion, which is a norm for contemporary country performers, but it was not that obligatory in the past. On the new disc by Sugarland, one can also perceive the elements of other popular among the people styles - folk and bluegrass. Having diversified thus the musical palette, the artists are noticeable for their texts too - on Love on the Inside Jennifer Nettles recommended herself as the talented author, while her voice is worth any praises for its richness and expressiveness. The thoughtfulness of the new lyrics, its shades of meaning and repetitions of phrases in the chorus are more characteristic of rock music than country - and these qualities send us back in the band's history, as before the formation of Sugarland, both Bush and Nettles were well known at the American alternative rock scene. No doubt, the ability of this duo to inherit the best qualities of all the genres that are close to them greatly benefited to Love on the Inside.