The title
This Is the Heavy
signals that this,
Mitchell Tenpenny
's second official solo album, is different than
The Low Light Sessions
, the slow-burning EP that preceded it earlier in 2022. While
Tenpenny
never gets as weighty as, say,
Jason Aldean
or
Cole Swindell
, the sound of
is louder and thicker, the melodies and rhythms more insistent, the overall effect is bigger and broader than either
or his 2018 debut
Telling All My Secrets
. Soul-inflected country-pop remains his bread and butter, but any subtlety on the album is left to his delivery.
knows to lay back instead of push -- any force is left to the overamped arrangements -- and that factor, along with his slightly sandpapery rasp, places
in a sweet spot between rocking country and country-pop. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine