Old Dominion - Memory Lane

Old Dominion have their record-making process down to a formula. There’s a reason their singles dominate Billboard’s Country Airplay chart time and again; the band have always been damn good at writing catchy songs with earworm melodies.

Never intending to be anything deeper than a song for a good time, the group continue to churn out those "feel good" hits on their new, 18-track record, Memory Lane. These songs of summer are released as the air cools, lending them to bonfire nights and autumn days.

‘I Should Have Married You’ and the title-track have been everywhere this summer. The two songs feel like they were born in the same breath, a feeling that a lot of Old Dominion's music invokes. It's as if their entire catalogue of singles seamlessly fit from beginning to end; they’re catchy and clever, sinking deep into your mind and gripping tightly, only to be chucked away in favour of the next.

The only song Old Dominion have ever recorded that they didn’t write, ’Some Horses’, should have been an early single, but it didn’t receive the spotlight during the build up to the record. Originally written over a decade ago and in the third person, Matthew Ramsey sat down and re-worked it into a song that still fits into their formula, all whilst being genuinely moving and introspective to the listener. It’s a sleeper hit and definitely the standout on the record.

Old Dominion don't shy away from the fact that they are hit makers. They write feel good music for people who want to have a good time. Music like this has its place, and listeners have made that clear with record sales and concert attendance, but we itch for something like ‘Some Horses’; music with more creative freedom.

5.5 / 10

Old Dominion's 2023 album, Memory Lane, is out now via Three Up Three Down / Sony Music Entertainment.

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