During Wednesday night’s (Nov. 8) CMA Awards, Chris Stapleton further established his dominance in the male vocalist of the year category, picking up his seventh win in the past nine years. On Friday’s Grammy nominations announcement (Nov. 10), his song “White Horse” picked up a nomination for best country solo performance and best country song. Meanwhile, his collaboration with Carly Pearce, “We Don’t Fight Anymore,” earned a nod for best country duo/group performance.
Quite the way to usher in his new album, Higher, which was released on the same day.
Just eight years ago, Stapleton issued his debut solo album, 2015’s Traveller; a CMA Awards performance alongside Justin Timberlake that year introduced the world outside of Nashville to the show-stopping power of Stapleton’s voice and his swampy guitar grooves. With classic country sounds as its core tenet, that album was a mere sampling of the wider landscape of musical influences that Stapleton has explored in his subsequent four releases.
His previous album, Starting Over, had moments of looking outward, surveying the world around Stapleton on “Watch You Burn” and “Nashville, TN.” On the 14-song Higher, Stapleton largely explores variations on a succinct set of topics — love, lust and heartbreak — but his otherworldly voice, capable of both wall-shattering power and a velvety purr, gives a unique nuance to each.
Like Willie Nelson, Stapleton first found success as a writer of hits for other artists before seeing his own chart successes. Along the way, Stapleton has become a favored vocal partner for everyone from Adele and P!nk to Carly Pearce and Taylor Swift. His years fronting groups including bluesy-bluegrass outfit The SteelDrivers and rock group The Jompson Brothers have lent his headlining shows a freewheeling, jam-band feel.
Also like Nelson, Stapleton’s focus on the music, his excellence in constructing detailed stories and his uncanny ability to traverse musical landscapes have made him a timeless figure, and one that takes inspiration from a myriad of genres, as Stapleton weaves in country, soul, rock, and punk. On his new project, he also pulls in a couple of fellow singer-songwriters as co-writers, including Miranda Lambert and Carolyn Dawn Johnson.
Here, we take a track-by-track look at the songs on his new album Higher.
“I’m gonna drink everything on that shelf/ Feels like I’m killing myself,” he sings on the album’s opener, wrapping his gravelly voice around this mournful, swaying ballad, and contemplating what life will be like without his lover, his constant companion. Notably, Stapleton wrote this song with fellow country superstar Miranda Lambert.
Stapleton slips into his well-entrenched blend of rock and blues on this blistering track, backed with moody, grungy guitar licks. He wrote this track with J.T. Cure, Derek Mixon and writer-producer Dave Cobb.
“Too many people have been let down by broken promises on rocky ground,” Stapleton sings. “Now there are cynics with rusty knives/ Trying to cut away the good in our lives.” Sparse percussion and bright acoustic guitar ripple as Stapleton sings of an unconditional love that can withstand the waves of hardships life throws their way. Stapleton wrote this with Steve McEwan.
Written by Stapleton with his longtime collaborators Ronnie Bowman and Jerry Salley, this track slows things down, with another unhurried vow of gratitude for his lover. Vocally, Stapleton is at his most soulful and supple, especially when he reaches into this gripping falsetto, but the lyrics feel a bit generic at times.
This lust-fueled, slow-roll track was written by Stapleton with his wife Morgane Stapleton, along with J.T. Cure, Derek Mixon and Cobb. “The Fire” churns along at a steady pace, though the dynamics stay pretty steady throughout.
Stapleton gets funky on this solo write, meshing an Al Green-esque lead vocal with Hammond B3 organ, violins, cellos and sultry bass, ultimately registering a romantic grit reminiscent of ‘70s soul.
Multiple songs on this album delve into Stapleton’s deep-seated soul music influences, such as this track he wrote with Kendell Marvel and Tim James. “I apologize for the way I’m acting / I just got a lotta loving you on my mind,” he sings, while other moments highlight his airy, compelling falsetto.
The first single released off the album is also one of the strongest. Written by Stapleton with Semisonic’s Dan Wilson, “White Horse” is a plea to a lover to wait for him, as he’s not fully ready to give his heart away at the moment. His gravelly shout, paired with synthesizers and organ, give this track a open-road feel.
Another solo write from Stapleton, this title track muses that his lover’s devotion and affection surpasses the loftiest mountain peaks and most far-flung celestial orbits. Flanked by bass, guitar, drums, organ, Wurlitzer and Paul Franklin’s pedal steel, Stapleton turns in one of his most commanding, yet tender, vocals on the project.
“The whiskey holds the man / The man holds the bottle when it’s all that’s left,” Stapleton sings on this Lee Miller co-write, laden with some circular wordplay that conveys a heartbroken man’s dependency on a tall glass of his favored vice to help dull the memories — or, as Stapleton sings, “I don’t have a problem if I don’t see the bottom.”
Stapleton gets another fellow singer-songwriter co-write on this track, one he wrote with Carolyn Dawn Johnson. Earnest and aching, “The Day I Die” offers a shattered-heart plea for reassurance that an ex-lover’s passion was real at some point, and Stapleton vows his love will end the day he’s in the ground.
An ode to those commandeering big rig 18-wheelers across the country, watching the white lines pass as the miles stretch out ahead. Written by Stapleton, J.T. Cure, Derek Mixon and Dave Cobb, the song details battling harsh weather and meager wages, a life filled with “truck stop showers and sleeping in motels,” all to keep food on the table for a family.
“Give me the bars and chains that won’t set you free / Give me the weight of your world, and lay it on me,” Stapleton sings on this absolute stunner of a track. The hope-filled missive finds Stapleton being the one to offer reassurance and a steadfast, safe place to hide from the strains and demands of the world. One of the album’s most essential tracks.
This tender, ruminative track closes out the album as the final of a trio of solo writes from Stapleton. He muses about the inner struggles he hasn’t quite surmounted: “So I think I’ll find a long white line, curse the world and leave it all behind,” he sings, returning to a theme of escape that laces other songs on the albums. The song is a reminder that Stapleton may be known for his thundering vocal and blues-soaked guitar licks, but his quiet strength as a songcrafter is as present as ever.