On Tuesday, May 21 Darius Rucker released his new album called “True Believers”. With such a huge success of his number one single “Wagon Wheel”, the country-music loving world was nothing but excited to see what Rucker would release next.
Rucker decided to stay with his original southern comfort roots that his previous albums have displayed. With his familiar baritone voice that anyone can pick out in a crowd, he sings about heartbreaking emotions as well as upbeat fun songs. On this album, Rucker wrote 10 of the 12 songs and had Sheryl Crow and Mallary Hope featured on the record.
Songs like “Miss You” and “Heartbreak Road” are obvious radio single hits. In “Miss You,” Rucker sings about loving someone who doesn’t give him the same feeling. He sings “How did we get here? Where you can be right there, And I can be with you and miss you?” Rucker sings many songs about the feeling of losing someone. You can sense in his songs that he fears for losing what he has. In “Heartbreak Road” he tells his lover to take him anywhere just as long as she doesn’t break his heart. He writes “Baby take me anywhere you wanna go, Just don’t take me down Heartbreak Road no.”
Rucker also displays his iconic South Carolina breeze personality in song “Take Me Home”. He lists the things he misses most about being home with his family and the south when he is on the road. He sings “I wanna glass of sweet sun tea, brewed out in the backyard.”
Many people give Rucker a hard time for his “sudden” transition from the pop/rock band Hootie and The Blowfish to country solo singer, but I argue it was the perfect move for him. When listening to Rucker a sudden smile spreads across my face, and no other singer can make me smile the way Rucker does. His music has upbeat tunes and personal messages that hit right at the heart. He has been welcomed into the country genre with open arms and has done nothing but well succeeding in it. He is the first African American singer to have a number one hit in country music since Charley Pride. According to Billboard, Rucker has also had many number one hits including “Come Back Song”, “I Got Nothin”, “This”, “True Believers”, and “Wagon Wheel”. He has made a statement to the country lovers and haters that he is here to stay for a while.
His two previous albums “Learn to Live” and “Charleston, SC 1966” have been two albums playing through my headphones for the past couple years and that have been very close to me. I would recommend all three of his albums to anyone wanting a new singer to make their summer playlist just a little bit better. I can tell you that he is definitely on mine. I’m looking forward to see where this album takes Rucker next.
