Carrie Underwood released her last studio work three years ago. Audiences have been anticipating her latest album, “Storyteller,” especially since she announced it in August 2013. A great hits compilation and the birth of Underwood’s first child contextualize the album’s production process, and perhaps those aspects made this new release stand out as unique compared to Underwood’s other albums.
Underwood holds nothing back in “Storyteller.” She kicks off the album fast and hard with “Renegade Runaway” — the story of a girl whose beauty doesn’t tie her to one place. The singer shows off her iconic range and smooth, pure voice that helped her win American Idol all those years ago.
The album then transitions with a vengeful, pulsing track on a topic she knows well — cheating husbands. “Dirty Laundry” holds the same appeal of “Before He Cheats” did, with a bit less vandalism and a bit more public embarrassment now that she’s going to “hang [him] out to dry, dry, dry.”
Underwood then slows it down and really showcases her storytelling abilities with “Church Bells,” where Jenny — who thought she had it made when she married a rich man — ends up a victim of domestic abuse. Jenny struggles until — in the singer's classic style — she slips a little something into his drink, though "how he died is still a mystery."
“Heartbeat” and “Like I’ll Never Love You Again” offer the album quintessential country ballads chronicling the highs and lows of the relationships everyone wishes they had. Along with 'Chaser' and 'Relapse', these songs balance out the high-paced power anthems that characterize the rest of the album, until it kicks back up in intensity towards the end.
The next highlight on the album is “Mexico,” where her narrative and vocal talents really reach a climax with apt, distant, Lana Del Rey-esque prose in lyrics such as, “stick-shift, summer Sahara, chains / we ain’t alone” and cute quips like, “Blondes have a little too much fun / I’ll be brunette / Adíos till then.”
The album ends with a self-reflective, calming ballad, after the firestorm of hits that preceded it. Underwood pays homage to her husband and young son Isaiah on “What I Never Knew I Always Wanted.” Though cliché at times with lines like, “I was blind till my eyes were opened,” This song doesn’t need any theatrics because there is nothing Underwood needs to prove.
“Storyteller” is a riveting account of Underwood’s vocal and narrative prowess that demonstrates her career will withstand the tests of time.
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