Little Rebellion Music

Songwriters: Brad Paisley, Luke Laird, Chris DuBois

For Brad Paisley, his new project, Wheelhouse, is all about exploring new territory, literally and musically. We got a taste of the new direction on the first single, ‘Southern Comfort Zone,’ and it continues with, ‘Beat this Summer.’

At first listen just another summer single about how this is the best summer ever, this song hides a lot beneath its surface. ‘The trouble with up is there’s always a down’ Paisley sings right at the top. The writers come from an interesting angle with this character, he is stopping himself from fully enjoying the experience of this blissful summer by already anticipating its end. Another nice touch is the bummer/summer internal rhyme as, when you look carefully, the first line actually rhymes with ‘with you.’

The new album is the first with Paisley taking on producer duties and so far it has resulted in sonically very interesting songs. Here, he created a rich and plucky track full of little accents and the layering of his voice results in very atmospheric choruses. The only point against seems to be the very tight-sounding guitar solo which doesn’t match the airy nature of the rest of the mix. But then again, this contrast could have been on purpose.

Two singles in, Wheelhouse, is already proving to be a fascinating album.

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Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.

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