Guess who gets a first listen at a few tracks from Brooks and Dunn's upcoming album? I do!

You of course know of Brooks and Dunn. The duo is in no way obscure, nor have they been since the moment Kix and Ronnie teamed up. They have earned the CMA Vocal Duo of the year fourteen of the last fifteen years, along with a slew of other CMAs and ACMs, and even a few Grammys, and rightfully so. Brooks and Dunn's music spans everything from a good old honky tonk time to socially heart-wrenching ballads. With each album, they evolve musically and lyrically, still keeping that very specific Brooks and Dunn flavor that has made them so successful over the past 16 years.

You've heard Brooks and Dunn's current single, Proud of the House We Built. It falls somewhere in between the two ends of the spectrum I just gave you--upbeat and fun, positive and uplifting. The title track of the new album, "Cowboy Town," is much the same way, and in Ronnie Dunn's own words, "an anthem." It's a song that is meant to pull the album together, but after listening to it, I think it sums up Brooks and Dunn as a duo, everything they've done together. It's about the hard work, the music worth making, and living life like the good citizens of the community they are. The other track I've had the opportunity to hear is "God Must Be Busy," and just from the title, you know you will relate to this song. What person hasn't felt as if God must be too busy to take care of the important stuff? Talking about the socially conscious ballad, here is the token for this album. Not only is it a lament of the way these times we live in are going, but about a love lost.

Production on these tracks is clearer than it's been in the past as well. Rather than blending the voice into the rest of the music (which isn't always a bad thing), the voices sit right on top, ringing clear as a bell. This is something that I wouldn't have noticed, but happened to have some older Brooks and Dunn tracks on my playlist immediately following the new ones, and I prefer it. Ronnie sings so soulfully, and cleaning up the way it sounds in comparison with the rest of the track makes that come across even that much better.

From what I've heard of this album it's going to be a good one. It reminds me of Martina McBride's latest, Wake Up Laughing, in a lot of ways--the production style, the choice of songs, the messages in the lyrics that reach past that part of you that just wants to have fun and speaks to your heart. But really, would you expect less from Brooks and Dunn? Me either.

Cowboy Town drops Tuesday, October 2.

http://www.brooks-dunn.com
http://www.aristanashville.com/artists/details.cfm?artistid=1000006
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yRrSUwqnZj0