Even though Cort Carpenter has already released roughly fifty songs, the album All In is in fact his debut one. I was curious about it and had a chance to listen before its release on 10th February 2023. Here are my thoughts.
Cort Carpenter – About The Artist
Cort Carpenter is a 36 year old artist, born in Washington State. He is releasing music since 2012 and already had some EP releases like Thoase Nights These Days (2013), On Deck (2014) or Changing Lanes (2016). His most successful songs, however, have been recently. His most popular listen is Me and the Moon (2021, 1.1m Spotify streams), but also the 2022 Somebody Tonight, which is featured in All In, had almost half a million listens on the streaming platform since its release in September 2022.
Cort Carpenter – All In – Track by Track
The ten song album lasts 32 minutes.
1. Dangerous
The first three minutes of the album belong to the track Dangerous. A song with a nice vibe. Cort Carpenter comes with a nice and warm voice, the backing guitars lead to the necessary power. Good opener.
2. Takes Its Time
The first notes of Takes Its Time feel very similar to the first track to me. Luckily, the second track develops its own style. A bit of mainstream, but this rather straight modern country is a good listen.
3. Missing A Girl
Despite this song has not (yet?) been chosen as a single release, it one of the best listens of All In to me. A nice arrangement with a melodic pre-chorus and a catching key phrase. Just gentle enough to be emotional – and sufficiently rhythmic that the song can make you move. Good one!
4. Raise One Up
Raise One Up starts with a darker, also more traditionally feeling country music style. I feel that this very groovy song is a nice contrast to the first three listen. To me, this song is another really deep experience.
5. Fade
Fade has a lot of elements, which would make it work perfectly on North American country radio. Thus, I am sure that it is also a nice fit to some playlists on the other side of the big blue water. Nice arrangement towards the chorus.
6. Get To The Bottom Of This
The sixth song is a bit slower. It does have some nice guitar presence, but overall it is not as present as other songs in here. The heart of the song is definitely the chorus, again.
7. Somebody Tonight
Compared to modern airplay-aiming country songs, Cort Carpenter tracks feel rather long. His most successful one of this album so far, Somebody Tonight, is, however, one of two tracks shorter than three minutes. I feel it is one of the best listens of this release. Very present, catching elements and nicely working with different layers of music.
8. Used To
The shortest song of the album is following right thereafter. The banjo-alike background is distracting me a bit too much from the vocals. Overall, I feel that the melodic arrangement is not working out too well. Nonetheless, a nice one.
9. See That Girl
The second last song is a typical modern country music track. Good write and nice storytelling. Overall, it does create a special or outstanding listen, but it is a song which gives you a good mood and definitely does not make you think about the skip button.
10. Music To My Tears
The album closes with a beautiful ballad. Take this one straight to your romantic songs list. Cort Carpenter just does great – love it!
Cort Carpenter – All In – Spotify
Here is the album on Spotify:
Cort Carpenter – All In – My View
All In is a good album. You might miss some special moments in here – but you won’t be disappointed as well.The album showcases the good talent of Cort Carpenter and allows us to have a certain showcase of his music. Definitely worth listening.
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