Cole Swindell sings that the wild, "unpredictable" object of his affection subject is "turning up my stereotype," claiming that "If you look up a country girl in the dictionary, you'd see her face," but she upends those conventional notions.
Swindell doesn't really make the case that the subject of "Stereotype" is all that surprising, yet that suits an album that doesn't stray far from the middle of the road. Like
All of It before it,
Stereotype is heavy on ballads, a record where even the party tunes ramble along at a steady pace. It's not just that the tempos all move at the same deliberate gate: the arrangements are largely similar, opening with a bit of atmosphere, sometimes created just with electronics, the melodies building drama until guitars punctuate the hooks on the chorus.
Swindell remains a recessive presence on his own albums:
Lainey Wilson overwhelms him on "Never Say Never," while
HARDY pushes himself to the front on "Down to the Bar." This transparent touch gives
Stereotype a soft center, a kind of amorphous identity that nevertheless suits the slick, agreeable tunes that populate the record: the melodies don't demand attention, so why should the performances be any different? ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine