Chely Wright - Metropolitan Hotel (CD)

Wright matures into an album artist

By redtunictroll  May 13, 2005

Pros: -

Cons: -

After a four-year hiatus from album releases, and a departure from MCA for the artist-friendly indie Dualtone, Wright has returned with a songwriter's album. Her first self-produced album provides several interesting dichotomies. The self-penned ...songs are more personal than those she previously picked from Nashville's stable of writers, but at times the intimacy turns to treacle. Further, while the production is stripped back to a sound that balances nicely with Wright's earthy tenor, there's no escaping the years of being conditioned to the crossover sounds of her earlier radio-ready major-label releases. The result feels like the first step in a new phase of Wright's career – one that, as the lead track emotionally portrays, is fueled by songs rather than hits. Which isn't to suggest that there aren't potential hits to be found here, as the lead single, "The Bumper of My S.U.V.," has shown. But the interwoven tragedies of "The River," and the first-person narrative of "Between a Mother and a Child" exert the sort of emotional gravity that would pull listeners too far into their thoughts for a commercial break. While a few others Nashville artists fill out their albums with worthwhile non-hits (Patty Loveless being a prime example), Wright's turned the equation around: recording a cohesive, artistic album that just happens to feature a few hit-ready tracks. Hats off to Dualtone for stepping in to promote Wright as a musical artist, just as Nashville's majors decided she wasn't worth promoting as a hit single machine. Read more Less