Tangled Up

By the time Thomas Rhett was preparing to drop his 2015 second record, <i>Tangled Up</i>, the Georgia country singer had already made a name for himself: his debut long-player, 2013’s <i>It Goes Like This</i>, garnered three huge hit singles. The same year, he helped pen the Florida Georgia Line chart-topper “Round Here”. But where <i>It Goes Like This</i> adhered mainly to a punchy Nashville country sound that could be traced back to the genre’s traditional fare, <i>Tangled Up</i> shows Rhett blossoming in his role as one of the 2010s’ top purveyors of country-pop boundary-pushing, combining different styles within familiar frameworks. Rhett’s approach makes for plenty of surprises, like the record’s two glitzy, disco-inspired tracks, “I Feel Good”, featuring Florida rapper LunchMoney Lewis, and the Daft Punk-indebted “Tangled”. The U.S. Country No. 1 single “Crash and Burn” is a tambourine-fuelled pop banger, and “Vacation” brings more of that energy into a sun-blasted holiday romp. There’s a bit of the tried-and-true country sound and sentiment—Rhett makes a romantic move on “Single Girl” and urges a love interest toward a breakup on “The Day You Stop Lookin’ Back”—but <i>Tangled Up</i> really runs all over the map. The trap-copping hi-hats and big riffs of the EDM-inflected “Anthem” is a party-starter, “South Side” opts for simmering funkiness and “Die a Happy Man” showcases Rhett’s soulful side. The risks proved to be outweighed by the rewards: <i>Tangled Up</i> was certified Platinum twice over and produced another string of No. 1s. It established Rhett not only as a hitmaker but also as an artist who pushes the envelope of contemporary country music and has fun doing so—an attitude he’d carry forward into 2017’s <i>Life Changes</i>.