Review: Corbin aims for escapism on latest album

The Associated Press, Monday, September 17, 2012, 7:41am (PDT)

Easton Corbin, "All Over The Road" (Mercury)

Country singer Easton Corbin radiates exuberance throughout his second album, "All Over The Road." The album is high on catchy guitar riffs and bouncy rhythms, and light on emotion or drama.

"It's all right to keep it light now mama," Corbin sings in his current country radio hit, "Lovin' You Is Fun." The Florida native follows that advice, perhaps too faithfully, through these eleven new songs.

The lighthearted theme carries through a variety of love songs. In the title cut, Corbin kids with a police officer that he's driving erratically because of the woman in the seat beside him. "Hearts Drawn In The Sand" equates a short-lived summer romance to a fading beach tan. And "That's Gonna Leave a Memory" suggests the singer will miss his former lover — but the pain won't last long.

Corbin gets compared to heavyweight country traditionalists, including George Strait and Alan Jackson. His voice features their casual masculinity, and he delivers a hummable tune with their laid-back ease.

But those singers didn't become legends by only serving dessert. Corbin piles on the sugar on "All Over The Road," but he needs to bite into something meatier to achieve the impact of his heroes.

CHECK OUT THIS TRACK: On "Dance Real Slow," Corbin croons a softly swaying love song about how an intimate turn on the dance floor with his lover helps him escape the speedy hustle of daily life. It's one of the moments when Corbin's escapism sounds true-to-life.