Luke Bryan Does It Again with Sophomore Album

Douglas Boultinghouse
Arts & Entertainment Editor

Photo by Douglas Boultinghouse

Welcome to the Farm - Luke Bryan performs at the Riverfest Amphitheatre in Little Rock Sept. 6. Bryan previewed songs appearing on "Doin' My Thing."

   Singer-songwriter and country artist Luke Bryan, known for his party songs “All My Friends Say” and “Country Man” takes a different approach to his sophomore album “Doin’ My Thing,” released Oct. 6 by Capitol Nashville.

   While Bryan continues to party on songs, the album contains songs with deeper meaning than drinking and bonfires.

   The release of the album follows the No. 1 success of his single “Do I.” The emotional single with a sincere question for married couples hanging on to what they have.

   “Do I turn you on and on when I kiss you baby / Does the sight of me wanting you drive you crazy / Do I have you love / Am I still enough / Tell me don’t I or do I, baby,” he asks.

   Bryan co-wrote the hit with Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of the successful country trio Lady Antebellum. The group’s third member, Hillary Scott, joins Bryan on the track singing background vocals.

   Also on a serious note, he included an unsuspecting cover of the One Republic smash “Apologize.”

   Though a hit for Ryan Tedder’s One Republic, the song actually sounds better as a haunting country ballad and Bryan’s vocals pull it off more believably than Tedder.

   The most heartfelt and heartbreaking song did not make the final cut for the album.

   However, if you pre-ordered the album from iTunes, you received the bonus track “Favorite Flowers.”

   Before finding success in the music industry, Bryan lost two of his biggest supporters, his brother Chris and his sister Kelly. The lyrics of “Favorite Flowers” speak of understanding why God takes some while leaving others behind.

   “It must have been the way the sunlight hit you and shined upon your face / Or how the rain would find you on the driest of days / Your smile in the morning / The way you’d reach for the sky / How you danced in the breeze as people walked by,” he sings. “So it must be true / What I once heard / God picks his favorite flowers first.”

   Aside from the intense songs showcasing Bryan’s artistry, the album includes radio-friendly, yet timeless, country songs such as “Someone Else Calling You Baby,” “Every Time I See You,” “Doin’ My Thing,” “Chuggin’ Along,” “Welcome to the Farm” and “What Country Is.”

   Standing out from the timeless pack, “I Did It Again,” holds potential to be a huge hit for Bryan.

   From mud-riding in his truck to drinking beer and partying, Bryan claims he would never do them again, but by the chorus, he forgot that statement.

   “I did it again / Just one more time / Even I swore that I’d lost my mind / But I turned right around / And just like a fool / Did what any ole country boy’d do / I did it again,” he sings.

   For the fans who pretended to be Elvis rocking on the bar with Bryan, do not worry, the album stocks a couple party starters. Things turn frisky on “Rain is a Good Thing” and he spends a hunting trip “Drinkin’ Beer and Wastin’ Bullets.”

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