IRA DEAN FT. JEFFREY STEELE - Wreck Me- 8-Track Entertainment

Though the very poignant, nostalgic driven “Missin’ How It Used To Be” provided the initial glimpse of his newest chapter, Ira Dean has since paved the way to his highly anticipated album I Got Roads with several collaborative efforts; “1 to Hank” with Uncle Kracker, “Tele-Man” with Vince Gill, Brent Mason, and John Osborne, and now again on his latest release, “Wreck Me.”

Teamed up with hitmaker Jeffrey Steele and accented by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers drummer Steve Ferrone, the song co-written by Dean, David Lee Murphy, and Justin Weaver flows within the familiarity of a groove that’s reminiscent of “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” fluidly balancing tinges of classic rock flare against dynamic country rock blends.

Swirled in the notion of knowing you should say no to a lustful attraction but being unable to resist the steaminess of what is presumably an on again off again fling, the rawness of Dean’s vocal strikes the edges of each line through a tug-of-war that sees him trying to turn away from her while knowing it’s only a matter of minutes before he succumbs to her yet again.

With his internal feelings continuing to well up until they finally boil over, as he strides to the punch of the chorus Dean allows himself to completely fall into her, admitting that he secretly loves the back-and-forth and the knowing that no matter how hard he tries he can’t stop himself.

“You still wreck me

Straight off the wall

Girl, you get me out of control

And it’s hard to hang on

Baby, when you let it go

It don’t matter what we break

Girl, I love the way

You still wreck me”

Detailing in the second verse the sexy night that’s now straight ahead for them, teetering on the excited anxiousness of the feel-good dangers - “It’s like running with the headlights off” – he expertly paints the familiarity of a Friday night downtown scene while capturing the emotional strides that wrap around a playful flintiness within the give and take that always results in its predictable outcome.

Allowing for the guitar to shred through the bridge and a sway to embed the outro, “Wreck Me” becomes the next intriguing piece to a project that’s clearly a labor of love, but one that is also reaching through the speakers to resonate with the heart of the listener in uniquely different ways from song to song while providing a strong reintroduction as to why Ira Dean is such an integral part of country music’s landscape.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)