House on Fire takes her sound into its dance-pop era
Mickey Guyton had been heralded as one of country music’s most important voices well before the release of her breathtaking 2021 debut Remember Her Name. Her incisive 2020 singles “What Are You Gonna Tell Her” and “Black Like Me” challenged the genre and its listeners with tough questions about gender equality and race, even catching the ear of Beyoncé, who sent her fellow Texan flowers after the release of Cowboy Carter to thank Guyton for opening doors for Black women in country.
On her second album, House on Fire, Guyton continues to blaze trails and live up to her promise, delivering a collection of songs that effortlessly take her into her dance-pop era. In “My Side of the Country” and “Make It Me,” two songs she co-wrote with former Florida Georgia Line singer Tyler Hubbard, she mixes country signifiers with upbeat production. “We got short beds and tall boys in cowboy boots/We wear Levi’s, take slow rides on Sundays too,” she sings over jangly Chic guitars in the single “My Side of the Country.” In the come-on “Make It Me,” she shouts outs “Jack and Coke” and tries to convince her love interest of her appeal: “If you wanna spend the night with somebody/Make it me.” Both are certified bangers, tailor-made for the dancefloor.
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But while there’s a clear party going on across the album — “Make ‘Em Like You” is another irresistible blast of ABBA country — other tracks are more cutting, like the sharp indictment of a checked-out lover, “Little Man.” “Baby if you gave a damn/I can meet you more than halfway,” Guyton pleads, before ultimately realizing she’s the only one adulting in this relationship. She returns to the idea of finding “a real man” in “Deserve,” ideally a guy who puts her first and doesn’t get lost in his own image.
“I Still Do” closes things out with Guyton’s best vocal performance on the LP. A smoldering promise of devotion and commitment, it’s a reminder of Guyton’s innately soulful voice and the pipes that power it.House on Fire — ostensibly a “country album,” whatever that definition means to you — leans a little too far into dance at times, but it’s hard not to submit to its charms. In an era that many are hoping will be defined by joy, Guyton is providing the soundtrack
