Neilson Hubbard is a big, beefy, bearded songwriter and producer from Nashville who sings from the heart although the ‘Disco Cowgirl’ baseball cap he wears in the video for the title track is a tad incongruous.
This album showcases eleven epic soulful love songs with big string-laden production values. The plethora of romantic power ballads makes this a dinner date album par excellence .
The Temptations sang ‘Ain’t Too Proud To Beg’, a notion that Hubbard flips by pleading Don’t Make Me Beg. In this song he shows he’s a master of winning pick-up lines: “I think I found you in the middle of a fantasy floating around in my head”
Other track titles like Love Will Drown You In The Wake and Fall Into My Arms are self-explanatory. The PR blurb says ”Nobody is making records like this anymore” and, if this is true, I suspect it’s because there’s a greater level of cynicism and distrust towards this kind of heart on the sleeve versifying.
In fairness, Hubbard does it very well and the lush melodies here are impressive. The degree to which he wins you over depends on how much you believe he’s entirely in earnest. Which brings us back to the baseball cap!
