This Ride

Kansas native Jerrod Niemann reunites with producer Jimmie Lee Sloas in the follow-up to 2014’s High Noon. Broader and more experimental, This Ride pairs snappy songs that flex his growling baritone (“I Got This”) against weepy ballads that’ll put a lump in your throat (“God Made a Woman”). It’s a splendid showcase of Niemann’s masterful songwriting skills, particularly his flair for sweet and simple rhymes. The chorus of “A Little More Love,” his feel-good collaboration with Lee Brice, is catchy enough for a bumper sticker: “Make a little more love/Make a little less money/Catch a little more buzz/Off a little less honey.”