Chris Young started drifting toward the middle of the road around the mid-2010s. He still racked up hits, regularly reaching the very top of Billboard's Country Airplay charts, yet he didn't do it with a pep in his step, nor did he take any pains to conform to the sounds of the time.
Famous Friends, his seventh proper studio album, finds him making a course correction, adding some livelier, stylish elements to his smooth foundation.
Young signals the shift with the album's artwork -- he looks like he's hanging out in his backyard, compared to the crooner showcased on
Losing Sleep -- and also how he's roped in
Kane Brown, one of the leading lights of 2010s' inclusive country, to duet on the title track.
Brown's presence helps ease in the sleekly elegant electronic rhythms, a production flourish that graces even the slower songs.
Young still sings a lot of ballads here yet they're balanced by brightly mellow party tunes like "Hold My Beer" and "Raised on Country," colorful midtempo anthems like "At the End of a Bar," plus the sprightly title track itself. The alterations are enough to give
Famous Friends a discernible pulse, something that was lacking on
Losing Sleep, which is more than enough to make
Chris Young seem younger than he has in years. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine