Heyo! Welcome to the first Kinda Review of the year. Today, I am rambling about one of my favorite albums of 2024, 2019 by Logan Crosby. If you are unfamiliar with Logan, I just wrote a Fangirl Friday about him.
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| 2019 cover and tracklist |
Logan Crosby is a new country artist I found last year and have been lowkey obsessed with ever since. Man has got me mesmerized with his voice. Despite being a writer, I do not have the words to describe it. He is incredible and I hope you check out more of his music after this.
Disclaimer: I am NOT a music critic. I am just someone who listens to and enjoys music daily. I do not have the vocabulary to talk music accurately, but I do have the vocabulary to say why I enjoy a song.
FIRST OF ALL, before I get into the music, can we talk about the album cover? I am OBSESSED with the surgeon general warning label. It reads: "Listening to Logan Crosby can significantly alter your mood. Resulting in feelings of joy, sadness and nostalgia. If you hate good music, be advised." And it is so true. So heed this warning before jumping into this album. It is good.
A game to play while you read: take a shot every time I compliment Logan's voice. I promise I am not in love with him. Just his voice. But I do have the biggest platonic crush on him. This is my invitation to be friends, Logan.
The titular song opens the album. I LOVE the guitar. It's so simple, but it works. The song is about being young and in love. About being 18 and doing dumb things. I was not 18 in 2019 - I was 22 - but I do remember being 18 and having the time of my life in college. I wasn't in love romantically, but I had found my lifelong friends. I remember the time of fake IDs. I, personally, did not sneak into bars, but I had friends who did. My "2019" was actually 2015. This song really makes me reminisce about my college days. Take me back. This is the nostalgia that we were warned about in the surgeon general warning on the cover.
I cannot tell you how many ideas, this song has inspired for my fiction. I love this song so much. It's about two people who grew apart, but Logan is hoping that they can still have what they used to have. I've been writing a while story with that concept. I'll admit the story wasn't inspired by the song, but this song is definitely on one of the playlists for it. I think my favorite line is "Am I still 'Wonderwall'? 'Cause you're still 'Strawberry Wine'". That was the line that was stuck in my head when Logan was teasing the song before releasing it. And it's the line that still gets stuck in my head on occasion.
The vibes of this song are incredible. The think I love about Logan's music is he paints such a clear picture for the listener. He is a gifted storyteller in that way. This song is about a past love. He's reminiscing about the one that got away after finding an old Polaroid picture in his truck. I've never been in love so I can't relate in a romantic way, but I have photos from college that take me back. So I understand the nostalgia when you find a photo you haven't seen in a long time and how fast it brings you back to another time. A past time.
This is definitely one of my favorite songs off the album. I don't know what it is about this song that has captured me. Maybe it's the story it tells. You start the song with two people in love and it ends with the breakup and Logan returning to the bar they frequented together. The closing lines of the song, "Sometimes I sit on the hoot and I look at the stars / In the last spot of the lonely ass parking lot / And I wonder why it ever had to end / 'Cause I'll never find a love like that again" hold so much sadness and defeat. He's given up on love.
Funny story about this song: when I was in the psych ward last year, we were able to use a TV that had YouTube and we'd take turns with music and I ended up playing this song more than a few times - because I was avoiding just listening to the Jonas Brothers and annoying everyone - and turned a few of my fellow patients into Logan fans. I am more than happy to spread the gospel of Logan Crosby and I will continue to do so. Hands down, my favorite line of this song is "If there's a wildflower in a field of roses / I'll put the wildflower every time". It's giving the energy of wanting someone to match your freak.
This song has a different aesthetic from the first half of the album. It just has a different feel, but I do think that works in favor of the storytelling of the album. It's more of a rock country sound - but as I said I am not a critic so if that's inaccurate I apologize. It once again illustrates Logan's knack for storytelling with his lyrics. He's asking his ex not to leave their town, begging "Please don't say Atlanta / 'Cause Atlanta means you're gone for good this time". He's already sure she's moved on to someone else, but he doesn't want them to leave. It's got a desperation to it.
Logan's voice adds to the already great vibe of this song. This one's a little different from what we've already heard. I wouldn't say it's a bragging song, but it's kind of saying what comes around goes around. The chorus hits us with "Look who's lonely, lonely now / And it ain't slowin' down / Look who's sippin' the bourbon and doin' the hurtin' / The tables are turnin' around". To me it's him responding to someone who broke his heart getting a taste of their own medicine. He sings, "Got a little taste of what you put me through / Bet you never thought it'd go south". Logan's vocals in this track are lovely, especially toward the end of the song.
This song was stuck in my head all day. I couldn't escape it, so I finally put it on and figured why not write about it. It's definitely ranked high in my favorite songs of Logan's. Whenever I write these posts, I listen to the songs through headphones to fully appreciate it. I do not have the vocabulary to describe his voice the way it deserves, but it is enchanting. Almost haunting in the heartbreak. It's a song about yearning which comes clear in the chorus: "I got really good at lyin' that's the truth / But just know when it comes to lovin' you / I say I don't / But I do". There's something in the way he sings that makes the yearning felt by the listener. All I know is if he sang to me with that southern drawl, I'd take him back in a heartbeat, but that's just me.
I couldn't insert a video for this one. Sorry. Blame Blogger.
It's giving "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles and "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon. If you know, you know. We love scorned lovers writing songs about their exes with the intent of that person listening to it. The choros really pops off with "I'll write a song, it's gonna sound like this / Instead of my mouth, these six strings will talk me shit / Yeah, it won't take long, it'll roll out on my lips / You've got me way past pissed and the funny thing is / You're gonna sing along". Catch me who has never had their heart broken, screaming this song at the top of my lungs alone in my room just because it's a certified bop.
Logan's love letter to his home state, Georgia. You can take the boy out of Georgia, but you can't take Georgia out of the boy. He does sing about being lucky to travel as much as he does, but nothing will ever compare to Georgia. He mentions a Milledgeville sunset, which I now feel like I need to experience. He sings "From the back of a bar with an old guitar / To a star on a TV show / Now these roads take me everywhere / Nah, but home just ain't out there" which recounts his rise to fame, but then he insists "No matter where I go, it ain't no Georgia". As someone who no longer lives where I was born and raised, I feel him. Nothing ever compares to home.
Two lovers going their separate ways, but they have one more night together. That's what this song is about. And you fully feel the desperation in the lyrics. He sings "Said you won't hate me if I whisper / 'Baby, please don't go' / We promised that we wouldn't make no promises". They both know this is the end, but they are trying to make the most of it. even if they "lay here in denial" they can "hold on to forever for a while. Just because they know it's the end, it doesn't make saying goodbye any easier.
I'd argue this is another love letter. An ode to what seems to be Logan's local dive bar, Roots. It's a beautiful song and I love the raw honesty of "When it's my time to be called up on the other side of the clouds / I hope there's swinging doors and sawdust on the holy ground / With sinner, saints, and neighbors sharin' stories on bar stools / I pray Heaven's less like a church and a little more like Roots". The desire to spend eternity in a dive bar instead of a church is really telling. There is an atmosphere of judgment you find in a church that you don't find in a bar. He even expresses that with "I've taught more about Jesus more in this room than I ever have on a pew / Don't have to hide my broken heart or cover up these tattoos". I'll admit before I wrote this post, this song was one of my lesser-played songs, but after diving into the lyrics and listening to it on repeat, I have a new fondness for it. I feel seen by this song. I don't have a local dive bar, but it's the sentiment. Almost like finding church and faith elsewhere and feeling like you belong. Thank you, Logan, for blessing us with this song.
The final song of the album. I think it's a great closing track. Yet another love song that demonstrates Logan's storytelling abilities. It's about lovers going their separate ways, but holding on to hope that when they come back, things will remain the same. He sings, "Seasons change, yeah, they come and go / April rain 'til the winter cold / sun after sunlight, another horizon / I'll be the one wakin' up beside you / Hol on to me every time the wind blows / 'Cause when those seasons change, I won't". He will love them despite the change of seasons and time passing by. He will remain the same. He even adds," There's nothin' I won't love you through". I can only hope to experience a love like this at least once in my life. The bridge is what gets me with, "Even when the colors fade / Even when our hair turns grey / We'll be making the best of the worst days". This is the kind of love I write about in my fiction. It's unconditional, complete love.
Overall, I really love this album and it was one of my most-played albums of 2024. Looking forward to new music from Logan in the new year!
If you'd like me to write a Kinda Review about any other album, let me know! I am always open to checking out new music! It doesn't even have to be a new album. Could be a decade old or several decades old. Have a great rest of your week!
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