Photo courtesy of Brett Eldredge

REVIEW:  Single “GABRIELLE” by Brett Eldredge (Warner Music Nashville/April 17, 2020)

We’ve waited long enough and while we’ll still wait until July 10th for his full album, Sunday Drive, the new single, “Gabrielle”, from Brett Eldredge is here.  A song co-written by Eldredge, Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk, this was worth waiting for.  Piano-heavy, with just enough zing to keep it from falling into that “ultra-slow, ultra-sentimental” category, this is my kind of “guy ballad”.  Often times, male voices singing slow, heartfelt ballads come off a bit schmaltzy to me.  So far, Brett Eldredge has bucked that trend in my book (think “The Reason” off his 2017 self-titled record), and managed to maintain his masculinity while expressing his inner-most feelings.

Photo courtesy of amazon.com

“Gabrielle” has Eldredge looking back on a failed relationship and wondering what might have been.  Life has clearly gone on for him and it appears these are just thoughts.  He’s simply reminiscing about the good parts and questioning what went wrong.  It’s as though he’d like to take another chance, but perhaps only in his mind.  You never sense a pressing desire for him to go find her and rekindle the relationship.  That’s the beauty of this song.  He’s wondering if she’s wondering too, but he seems content to leave it there.

It was apparent Eldredge was going in a bit of a different direction this time around.  He recorded Sunday Drive at SHIRK Studios in Chicago rather than Nashville.  He enlisted Tashian and Fitchuk, not only as co-writers of “Gabrielle”, but as co-producers of the album.  This pair is well-known for producing the Grammy-winning Kacey Musgraves record Golden Hour.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Moore/Brett Eldredge

As usual, Eldredge’s vocals are stellar.  This is an artist that can’t miss, one of country’s best.  To help bolster the release of the new single, Eldredge just kicked off his new official fan club, The Locals.  Fans can join at various levels to receive advanced releases of new music, special merchandise, advance access to tour tickets and chances to win meet and greets.  A link to the The Locals is listed at the bottom of this review.

Photo courtesy of Brett Eldredge

A playlist “must-add”, “Gabrielle” is another winner for Brett Eldredge, a preview to the much-anticipated Sunday Drive.  The upcoming album leaves me reminiscent of his past projects and wondering if this will be the one to top them all.  Fans will want to join The Locals to be the first to hear any new music from the record and premium members will receive a club t-shirt.  “Gabrielle” is available on all the usual digital platforms now.

Brett Eldredge Fan Club The Locals:  https://thelocals.bretteldredge.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/bretteldredge/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/bretteldredge/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/bretteldredge

*Featured image courtesy of Brett Eldredge/Warner Music Nashville