In the months leading up to his seventh studio album, Dustin Lynch took a victory lap. The country star released the compilation Setlist Staples - 10 #1’s, a celebration of the country chart-toppers he’s notched in the years since debuting with his self-titled album in 2012. That this album is called Clean Slate feels especially meaningful, then, as Setlist Staples seemed to signal the end of an era. Now in his forties, Lynch still knows how to throw ’em back—see opening track “Made in a Bottle”, for example—but has more on his mind than just making it to the next party. On these dozen songs—seven of which Lynch co-wrote—he considers loss, regret and hope for the future, with some rowdy fun tossed in for good measure. Though it’s an outside cut, the title track “Clean Slate” functions as a thesis for the album, as Lynch considers whether his old ways—“giving my angels the cold shoulder” and “driving too fast to pull over”—still serve him. Meeting a potentially life-changing love leads him to answer “no”, and his emotional performance reinforces that conviction. A handful of producers appear on the album, and that tune benefits from the light touch of Ross Copperman, who helps tell the story with gentle crescendos and a bit of rootsy soul. Other standouts are “Real Fine Reason”, an upbeat two-stepper about a chance encounter on Nashville’s famed Broadway strip, and “Old Man Knows”, a sweet, open-hearted ode to the kind of wisdom that can only come from experience. Rising star Ashley Cooke joins Lynch on “How You Been”, a sultry duet about reconnecting with an ex.