Multi-platinum singer/songwriter Kip Moore delivers his highly-anticipated fourth studio album Wild World. Co-writing all but one of the record's insightful tracks, Moore navigates the search to find a place and purpose. Throughout the 13-song collection that search is revealed in deeply personal terms, with Moore even self-producing the set, with help from David Garcia, Luke Dick and Blair Daly on respective tracks. The weathered heartland-rock sound Moore has embraced on previous efforts gets its emotional volume pumped up, recorded live with a full band, as substance trumped style and the timeless prevailed over the trendy. Moore admits the result includes a few quirks – but that just gives Wild World the character he values so much. "We wanted it to be more in-your-face," he says. "More earthy, more analog."
That straightforward honesty arrives early on the record, starting with the very first song, "Janie Blu," about a girl who's always been special, but often stood in her own way – a compassionate, force-of-nature plea to get your head right, before it's too late. Likewise, the sturdy "Southpaw" stands as a grunge-rocking manifesto for the proudly out of touch, rejecting the notion of "going with the flow" and showcasing just how Moore stands apart in today's Wild World. Meanwhile, the calming "More Than Enough" presents a better option, blowtorch anthems like the "Fire And Flame" pour gasoline on the quest for greater meaning and "Red White Blue Jean American Dream" flies down an empty highway of optimism.
"I know it's an unsettling time for a lot of people right now, and so my hope is that this music can bring even just one person some peace," shared Moore. "I try to make music that reaches people in a pure sense – something that's light and easy to carry with you, but 1000 pounds of weight at the same time, and I think Wild World is just a depiction of what I see. Life is one crazy, wild ride. But it can be so simple if we look for the right things, and I think that is more important than ever right now." Vinyl 2LP-set with poster.
2. Southpaw
3. Fire and Flame
4. Wild World
5. Red White Blue Jean American Dream
6. She’s Mine
7. Hey Old Lover
8. Grow On You
9. More Than Enough
10. Sweet Virginia
11. South
12. Crazy For You Tonight
13. Payin’ Hard