Maddie and Tae deserve far better, in terms of commercial success, general representation, and whoever is handling them these days.
The success story for “Die a Broken Heart” was a real bright spot of last year, but also an unlikely one that came years after failed attempts to follow-up the success of “Girl in a Country Song.” At this point, the duo members have basically had to re-establish themselves, and as for the new direction, I want to like it so much more than I do.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with “Woman You Got.” It’s a charming ode to devotion that’s sold reasonably well. It’s just that it lacks the charm of the duo’s earliest material and sounds like what you’d expect for a country track in 2021 trying to sound both neotraditional and trendy and failing to do either. The percussion is formless and overtakes the mix – the most common sentence I type with these single reviews these days, it seems – and chops up the groove that could have formed thanks to some solid pedal steel and organ work that just gets buried here.
Granted, this sounds very much in line with the duo’s last album, which I wasn’t that fond of, mostly because of some wonky production choices and uninteresting material that mostly dealt with Maddie Marlow and Taylor Dye’s respective marriages. This is basically an extension of that, and for as pleasant as it is, it’s just sort of boring. They’re in love, they’re happy, there’s hints of deeper dramatic stakes lingering about, but no worries. She’s going to stick around just because. End of story.
Anyway, I’m going back to “Shut Up and Fish” now.
Grade: C
Written by Laura Veltz, Maddie Font, Mark Holman, and Taylor Kerr
The Musical Divide 