Kip Moore hit his stride with 2017's Slowheart, finding the ideal place between heartland rock and arena country. Moore doesn't mess with this formula on Wild World, his 2020 follow-up, but he does refine it, whittling away any extraneous material so his modern-day country-rock is lean, sinewy, and direct. The shift is subtle but notable, evident right from the moment he begins pouring his heart out on the opening "Janie Blue" supported by nothing more than an acoustic guitar. Moore eventually gets around to more than his share of anthems -- there's the funky come-on "Grow on You" and "Red White Blue Jean American Dream," the only tune here he didn't write -- but Wild World has an undeniable contemplative bent to its mood. This pensiveness is underscored by the concluding "Payin' Hard," a spare number where Moore takes stock of the price he's paid for pursuing "this guitar before the only love I've known," a decision that's kept him distant from romantic and familial love. By bookending Wild World with its most vulnerable songs, Moore emphasizes how he's emotionally restless even when he's sounding musically confident, happily cranking out muscular introspection like "Southpaw" alongside "Sweet Virginia," which is so breezy it could possibly float onto pop radio. Despite these occasional glimpses of gloss and melodicism, Wild World is hardly pop and it doesn't follow the bylaws of modern country. It borrows upon parts of the past that are no longer considered hip, it wears its heart upon its sleeve in an unfashionable style, and these are the things that make Wild World feel vibrant and vital in a way few other 2020 country albums do. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine