By Juliet Mansell

I’m always apprehensive when I play an album for the first time – will the artist go in a ‘new direction’ that I don’t like, will the songs be too poppy for me.  With Song for the Saints I needn’t have worried!

These songs have clearly come from a place in Kenny’s life that has experienced the pain of destruction that Mother Nature can cause to the heart bursting pride of humanity.  With lyrics like “with blood sweat and tears and a new coat of paint” the title track tells you immediately that this album was inspired by the events following hurricane Irma that affected many Caribbean islands in 2017, but it is so much more than that.  The music has a very relaxed feel about it, with a few cross-over of genres – the reggae style in Love for Love City a collaboration with Ziggy Marley to a Maori chorus on Ends of the Earth.  Of course, it wouldn’t be a Kenny Chesney album without at least one summer party song and this is achieved by Get Along a great song for getting everyone singing in a bar, on the beach or at a sold-out stadium.

Kenny has teamed up with great songwriters and singers alike on this album – Jon Randall, Mac McCanally, Jimmy Buffett and Mindy Smith.  All adding that extra bit of charm that brings this whole album together.

So, while you might think that songs that deal with such a difficult subject would be depressing on the contrary they are uplifting and have moved me in such a way that I want to do better, to try harder and to achieve more.

As I listened to the gentle guitars and heard the words ‘I ride the waves I can’t control’ from Better boat (my personal favourite track) I find myself wanting more and simply can’t believe the albums over.  So much so that I immediately played it again, and again 😊.