KEITH URBAN - Messed Up As Me - A Hit Red Records/Capitol Records Nashville

When Keith Urban released “Straight Line” last month, he not only immediately engaged the listener through a comparative feel to that of his old school era, but he also offered the first taste of his anticipated new music.

However, as much as that last release walked a line of familiarity, his newest single “Messed Me Up” sees him swerving comfort zones, blurring genre lines, and spotlighting the definition of his consistently innovative, risk-taking abilities.

Written by Jessie Jo Dillon, Michael Lotten, Rodney Clawson, and Shane McAnally, the second song released from his forthcoming project pulls through the gamut of swirled emotions that balance a dysfunctional, on again off again with the lure of the one great aspect that keeps you coming back to it for more.

With a singer-songwriter aura initially holding the melody of the opening verse, Urban sings through the realities of who he is as he metaphorically faces his mirror, expertly allowing the rhythm to continuously elevate alongside the urgency of his thoughts as to whether or not he should make her his late-night, last call; leaning into the punch of the chorus on his hopes, and one too many shots of tequila, that she’d might still be wide awake and be:

“As messed up as me

And all alone

And all your friends

Have all gone home

And you hate that the truth

Is nobody leaves

Your head and your heart, and your bed and your sheets

As messed up as me

As messed up as me”

Accenting how well he knows the depth of her true heartbroken emotions better than she’s even letting on, and then reaching the unresolved brush of their never-ending cycle when he relays within his own head, “Hey, what are you doin' right now?,” by never actually calling her up but only staying firmly placed on his desired want, Urban relates to the common battle that we all face when we’re trying to move on while never being able to fully let go.

With each of his first two releases of this new crop of music, “Straight Line” and now “Messed Up As Me,” Keith Urban has showed two very different sides of his arsenal. However, he very cleverly flashes just enough pieces of his signature sound to grip you into their very strong lyrics, addictive melodies, and his unapologetic walk through varying genres as he intriguingly hypes the buzz surrounding things still to come one note at a time.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

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