Where Country Meets Pop

Mercury Nashville/19 Recordings/Interscope available on: itunes,www.amazon.com

Rating: ***

Reality shows throw up many 15-minute celebrities,though some do seem to have a long shelf life. Like Scotty McCreery,the 18-year-old winner of American Idol’s Season 10,who had many swooning for his baritone,Elvis Presley-meets-John Denver singing style and impish charm.

The teenager plays up his deep voice in his debut album Clear as Day,full of peppy countrified numbers on first kiss,homesickness,dirty pick-up trucks and dog-eared Bibles.

The album begins with the lively Out of summertime,in which McCreery sings about a summer romance with a girl who’s “bright as sunshine,sweet as July”. The next song,his hit single I love you this big,is mushy,with his love running “deeper than the ocean/higher than the pines”. Soppy lyrics,weak chorus and heavy drums make it a candidate for the theme song of High School Musical’s next sequel.

The trouble with girls is upbeat,while Walk in the country,co-written by singer-songwriter Keith Urban,has a deep,twangy guitar and is a highlight of the album. Dirty dishes is a tearjerker for the mamas,while Write my number on your hand is an upbeat,flirty,and very “country” number,with a mandolin (or a ukulele) as accompaniment. McCreery also stays true to his religious image with That old King James.

All in all,Clear as Day is a country-meets-gospel-meets-teen-pop album,perfect for those long drives.

prajakta.hebbar@expressindia.com