Hemingway's Whiskey

Kenny Chesney continues to play beach-y twang on his fourteenth studio album —  the catchy “Coastal” rhymes “love handles” with “Jesus sandals” as he makes a funny (yet valid) case to ditch the rat race and live on the sand. Grace Potter lends honeyed harmonies to the sabbatical serenade “You and Tequila” while twang-rocker “Live a Little” is an uplifting insta-hit that encourages the overworked to stop and smell the sea breeze. Chesney has been inspired by Ernest Hemingway via Guy Clark as evidenced by the Clark-penned title-track and tunes like the opening “The Boys of Fall,” which rings close to Adult Contemporary while retaining Chesney’s poetically nostalgic narratives. Other songs like “Where I Grew Up” and the lilting “Seven Days” touch on Hemingway’s themes of living a full life and owning up to one’s responsibilities. Chesney’s duet with George Jones on Jones’ “Small Y’all” is a good reminder that this is indeed country music.