KIEFER SUTHERLAND
Grey (Maple Creek)
Kiefer Sutherland may have had a 30-year Hollywood career behind him when he released his first album, but Grey – his fourth record, marking a decade since that debut – is a rich soundtrack for balmy summer nights, fusing heartland country with raw Americana storytelling to deliver what his fans didn’t know they needed.
Trading his usual high-octane energy for a comforting slow-burn, nowhere is Sutherland’s storytelling sharper than on Goodbye California,a bittersweet standout track capturing the bittersweet ache of outgrowing the city where you began.Positioned early in the tracklist, it sets a high bar – what follows struggles to live up to it.
As perfect as it is within its lane, the album narrows its own horizons from truly breaking new ground by keeping so closely to its genre; it ultimately creates an easy listening comfort zone that doesn’t quite take you anywhere. It may never find a home on the radio or in arenas, but it’s exactly what you’ll want playing on every summer windows-down drive.
words ELLIE EVANS
