The Musical Divide

Over the past several years, Cody Johnson has went from underdog Texas country star to bonafide mainstream hit-maker, with Leather acting as his third album for Warner Bros. Records.

To me, even despite featuring no co-writes from him whatsoever, it’s also his best to date. Perhaps it’s just because I’ve always found his own songwriting to be a bit meat-headed, or perhaps it’s because I’ve always personally considered Johnson to be in the “good but not great” camp as an overall artist (even if I do love deep-cuts like “Monday Morning Merle” and “Treasure”). But by focusing solely on selecting quality songs, Leather comes together quite well as a whole – especially when I’ve always been of the opinion that artists don’t need to write their own material in order to still be valid as artists.

With that said, because it truly is just a selection of good-to-great songs, it’s also got a piecemeal feel to it that prevents it from finding a more solidly consistent core, where it’s easier to just cherrypick the best moments and forget the rest. To the album’s credit, the rock-solid-as-ever neotraditional production is a plus, even if it feels mostly conventional in overall structure. Really, between the note on the songwriting credits and that, it’s got the feel of a George Strait album: a warm slice of comfort food that goes down really easy and well and features a strong baseline of quality, even if it also doesn’t reach the fullest heights possible.

Johnson’s gruff, rich presence is another asset, though, and greatly strengthens plenty of smartly written heartbreak moments here, from the golden hook that “Watching My Old Flame” provides in watching an ex-partner move on (“It’s the hardest thing / watching my old flame go out,” metaphorically and in actuality as she hits the town, with a melodic hook that reminds me slightly of Brad Paisley’s “Waitin’ On a Woman” for some reason), to “Whiskey Bent” (in which he tries to “straighten up what whiskey bent” in the fallout of a relationship, a great track that didn’t need the Jelly Roll assist to work, even if he doesn’t sound bad on that song).

Where he’s a bit less convincing is on the cutesy, corny “Work Boots,” the opening number that’s fine enough as Johnson tries to convince his boots to walk on over and talk to a potential love interest, but also one where his humor sounds a bit forced, given that he lacks the looser charisma to sell it better. The same can be said for the checklist ode to all things Texas that nearly every artist from there records ad nauseam, through “That’s Texas.” On the other hand, he goes way overboard on certain moments, like the overwrought closing track, “Make Me a Mop,” and the masturbatory revenge porn of “Jesus Loves You,” in which a father visits a criminal who tried to break into his house by basically telling him the titular statement … but also, you know, that he’d really like to kill him for what he did. By the end, I’m actually a bit more concerned for Johnson’s character’s mindset than I am the criminal’s. It’s just a weird song all around that never comes together; I’m not surprised that Hardy helped write it.  

Even then, sometimes simple and straightforward is where this album best operates. “Long Live Country Music” is pretty much exactly what you’d expect it to be about, but with the added charm of the Brooks & Dunn assist, it’s an overall really enjoyable, breezy cut I could have seem them cutting for themselves back in the 2000s. And the lead single, “The Painter,” is a grounded and mature love song that makes sense for where Johnson is now, and on what is an overall more weary, warm traditional country album.

But my favorite track by far is “Dirt Cheap,” in which a farmer is encouraged to sell his land for profit but declines, due to the strong memories made with his family on that land that have remained with him, even if times have changed. Despite his daughter being a grown woman now and the dog he once loved now buried on that land, he can still remember the simpler, innocent times just by looking out, and they’re the kinds of memories you can’t trade for anything. It’s an excellent ballad in every regard and possibly Johnson’s best to date.

All in all, I wouldn’t call Leather a mixed bag, so much as one where the best tracks greatly outshine the others. Outside of “Jesus Loves You,” though, I also wouldn’t say there are any duds, so it’s a nice step forward for Johnson overall.

(7/10)

• Favorite tracks: “Dirt Cheap,” “Watching My Old Flame,” “Whiskey Bent” (feat. Jelly Roll), “The Painter,” “Long Live Country Music” (feat. Brooks & Dunn)
• Least favorite track: “Jesus Loves You”

Buy or stream the album.