The city in question in the title track of
Nothing to Do Town
is
Dylan Scott
's hometown of Bastrop, Louisiana, but the production of the chipper celebration to the ways of a tiny town bears no traces of the swamp. It's clean, glossy, and bright, owing no small debt to the cheerfulness of early
Luke Bryan
. "Nothing to Do Town" sounds intentionally anonymous, the kind of song that could serve as an anthem in small towns across America. The rest of this 2019 EP retains the super slick sound of "Nothing to Do Town" but puts this precise polish into the service to a series of five songs about the pleasures of long-term relationships. Occasionally,
Scott
and his producers thread some slow-jam R&B rhythms into the mix, but that only accentuates the singer's loverman aspirations. In that regard,
's moves aren't as slick as his sounds -- the refrain "There's a ring on the finger that I'm wrapped around" on "Look at Us Now" isn't as romantic as it was intended to be -- but he generally avoids drawing attention to his mannered soulfulness, which means most of
is pleasant, romantic music, as suited for a candlelight dinner as it is for a morning whiling away the hours in an office. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine