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“I’m sick of feeling hopeless,” country star Jelly Roll cries out on his 10th album, Beautifully Broken. “Way down here at my lowest/ And at the end of my rope… So what do I do?”
Anyone familiar with the rapper-turned-country-star will know that this gold-grinning, tattooed singer wears his heart on his sleeve (he has a heart-shaped padlock tattoo on his face for good measure). Not short on material, he’s been through it all: prison, drug addiction, depression and bouts of imposter syndrome. All of this is entrenched in his rap-and-rock-infused take on country. His songs are those of a survivor with survivor’s guilt, and are delivered in his signature gravel-and-grit holler.
Beautifully Broken is his second country record, following last year’s Whitsitt Chapel. The latter leant more heavily into the genre’s most familiar tropes, from the banjo twang and rip-roaring chorus of “Halfway to Hell” to the twirl of fiddles on “Need a Favor”.
There’s still plenty of that on the new album, but it seems more authentic with the addition of rock, pop and hip-hop influences. British-American singer-songwriter Ilsey – behind hits for Miley Cyrus, Camila Cabello and Beyoncé – joins him for “When The Drugs Don’t Work”. Rapper Wiz Khalifa adds his woozy charm to “Higher Than Heaven”.
Jelly Roll sings with the conviction of a man who’s seen too much. The whiskey-soaked “Liar” sees him walk away from a toxic friendship. “Everyone Bleeds”, which has echoes of Chris Stapleton’s gruff, sepia-toned Americana, plays out like the halfway point of a redemption arc. The gently rollicking “Burning”, meanwhile, brings out his Tennessee twang as he pleads to the heavens. On the foot-stomping “Heart of Stone”, over a beautiful arrangement of orchestral strings and intricate filigrees on the banjo, he’s desperate to shake off his demons.
It’s inevitable that there’s a “bonus” version of the album, less so that many of the eight additional tracks are as good as the original 14. “Woman” is a blues and gospel-soaked tribute to his wife on which he really shows off the might of his voice. “Born Again” is a rousing anthem with superb details, such as the pluck of violins and the sauntering funk piano notes.
Jelly Roll is still finding his place in the world – you can hear that in his songwriting – but the polish and potency of this album suggest he’s almost there.
