COLE SWINDELL - Kill A Prayer - Warner Music Nashville
Though “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” and “Drinkaby” have recently toasted the good-time aura of Cole Swindell, the Multi-Platinum/multi–ACM Award-winner has also always carried a know-how of tugging heartstrings, broaching tougher subjects while reaching through the speakers to let the listener know they aren’t alone.
“You Should Be Here,” “3 Feet Tall,” and now his latest offering, “Kill A Prayer,” all fit warmly into the embrace of the emotional realm of who he is as an all-around artist and performer.
Written by Cole Taylor, Josh Thompson and Jesse Frasure, the latest glimpse into Swindell’s anticipated 5th studio album challenges that while you can chase your dreams, straddling the line between the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other, you can’t ever outrun the dedicated prayer life of your mother and the faithfulness of God to help guide you over the inevitably murky terrain.
Laced in a softer paced melody within the grip of a backbeat that flows modern era ideals, Swindell uses the opening verse as a contrasting highlight reel between who he is compared to that of who his mother is on his behalf; “I had a bone-dry bottle, she had a worn-out bible,” “She was more tent revival, and I was more chasing my jukebox idols,” etc.
Redemptively lifting praised filled hands through the chorus, he craftily shifts his vocal tone to hold tightly to an awestricken understanding of the power of prayer:
“By now I oughta be six feet
Between the wide a*s open and the whiskey
Every road, every bridge I've burned out
No thanks to me it turns out
You can't outrun a mama's amen
Even when you're out here running with the devil I swear
Yeah I'm living proof that you can't kill a prayer”
Continuing to shower praise upon his mother, the bridge perfectly sews the lyrics together when he shines utmost humbleness among the recognition that she’s the only reason he’s even breathing, expertly running the entire gamut of his life in his sense with crafty writing that travels the thought line from when he was born through her to her prayer-filled heart carrying the breaths he still takes today.
There are songs which by design will immediately race up the charts, striking the core of the current party mode that is Top 40 country music. But then there are songs that counterbalance the party with the very essence of what country music is all about…Real Life! Cole Swindell absolutely delivers on the latter with this latest intriguing effort.
(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)