If storytelling must remain true to its initial purpose, it requires a vessel that connects, teaches, and inspires while fostering community across cultures and time. To rise as a celebrated figure in that tradition, untouched by the pitchforks of critics, takes a certain type of person. However, the words behind the story matter just as much as the storyteller carrying it forward. In a marketplace where two artists can appear nearly identical in lyrical prowess and sound, Luke Combs stands apart. He is an artist whose creations draw profound meaning from the most ordinary of moments, delivered through a talent that is anything but and a persona more humble than most.
Three years, three children, and 19 #1 singles later, the “Going, Going, Gone” star has released his sixth studio album, The Way I Am, and is taking on the role of a world builder. In this project, Combs uses aspects of his life as a gateway to exploring songs of identity through richly upholstered storytelling and sound. Predictably, lyricism lays a foundation steeped in metaphor and recollection, while melodies both simple and achingly familiar breathe these narratives to life.
“Back in the Saddle” opens the album, retaining its promise: a declaration of a historic return. Explosive and self-assured, this song places Combs squarely back in the limelight of country music. Following in these rowdy footsteps are “My Kinda Saturday Night” and “Alcohol of Fame.” Together, these songs quietly lay out the album’s ethos: commanding bass and electric guitars, hit-worthy songwriting, swoonworthy pedal steel, surprise piano scales, and unadulterated fun.
However, this 22-track collection primarily earns its stripes through the comfort of its honesty and relatability, guiding listeners through moments deeply resonant and equally passionate. “15 Minutes” shows listeners that even he is, at times, only “doing alright” with just enough time to ask three low-effort questions. “Soon as I Get Home” documents the strength of a bond he yearns for all of the time, as he sings, “Gonna love making up for all my gone, soon as I get home.”
In “Ever Mine,” featuring Allison Krauss (who is closer to a harmonizer), Combs explores a new terrain. Eloquent strokes of banjo and mandolin bring folk to the forefront, as Combs tussles with incorporating a polished, quieted version of his unique sound into one that fits Zach Bryan and others alike. On almost opposing ends, the intense vocal delivery in “Wish Upon a Whiskey” is splayed against stripped-back ensembles of a piano and pedal steel. It’s a soundscape reminiscent of Jordan Davis’s “Church in a Chevy.”
Combs’s approach to slow ballads often ends in a monotone delivery, attempting to elevate an already unimpressive melody. However, in this array of songs, Combs proves he can craft ballads that are both lyrically and melodically tantalizing, defying the sleepier love songs that have encapsulated his previous work.
The question remains whether, in developing an album true to himself, Combs also stumbled upon a couple of radio hits. Opening with near-identical drum beats, “Rethink Some Things,” “Soon as I Get Home,” and “Sleepless in a Hotel Room” push listeners into the same tailspin of intense, passionate romance before branching into their own distinct story of life on the road with a wife at home. Combs constructs this aspect of his life through a playground of energetic yet groovy guitar-playing and chorus lines that are especially sticky. Within ten seconds, satisfying hooks draw the listener into a whirlpool of fiery, arduous imagery.
Yet, following the plot demands more than a willing and able ear. Overproduction plagues those songs and washes out the very vocals that encompass the heart of his talent. Much like Morgan Wallen, this trio of country songs is dressed up in a similar sequence of pop-leaning production and southern twang. Moreover, for listeners praising Luke Combs and identifying him as this picturesque paragon of country music, they must accept the hypocrisy that underlies this artistry, and one encompassed by the Morgan Wallen-ites.
Somewhere between the sappy, slow, droning songs he circles back to time and time again, and these rodeo day energizers, is a subset that is strikingly different from the rest. “Miss You Here,” “Can’t Tell Me I’m Wrong,” “Daytona 499,” and “Rich Man” perfectly complement his static-gravel tone, rather than drown it. “Miss You Here” enters with the addictive pull reminiscent of early 2000’s indie-rock beats, while “Can’t Tell Me Wrong” expands his vocal range through catchy vocal runs, bound to quick finger-picked playing.
The concept of “Daytona 499” first entranced listeners during the premiere of the ”Back on the Saddle” music video. Waving a flag on the flagstand, Combs subtly hints at a story that writes itself. Where the first 499 laps of the Daytona 500 mean nothing, if a driver doesn’t win, or in this case, a romance burns out before the finish line. Carrying a slight soulful current beneath a quintessential Combs framework, in “Rich Man,” Combs does what he has always done best: distills life down to its most essential truth, where family is the essence of being rich in life.
Storytelling through metaphor and unexplored avenues has always been a staple of Luke Combs’s work. Simple conversation and everyday thought can become deeply meaningful pieces of work. However, it is rare for a single album to contain more than a handful of songs that perfectly elevate his portrayal of life and love while also adding genuine flair to his more monotone delivery. Here, in a sprawling 22-song world of his own creation, Combs curates an incredibly cohesive album that largely showcases his unique vocals across more mainstream tempos. He retools sappy ballads and brings them to life melodically. While overproduction surfaces occasionally, the album’s most redeeming moments lie in the latter half of the album. Where the rowdy euphoria of a Friday night is balanced with a man counting the hours until he’s home, these aspects forge The Way I Am as a deeply personal work that is incredibly resonant and worth listening to over and over again, making it some of his best work yet.
