Now that we've heard the new songs from Tammy Cochran and David Ball, let's hear another song from the "Has-Been-Artists-Trying-to-Make-a-Comeback" file. Chely Wright enjoyed a relatively brief hitmaking period around the turn of the millenium, with hits like "Shut Up and Drive" and "It Was." She is best-known for her one-and-only number-one hit from 1999, "Single White Female." She will soon be releasing her first new studio album since 2005. The lead single from her new album is a song called "Broken."
"Broken" is a sad slow-tempo song about a woman who has suffered heartache in the past, and is trying to bring herself to let a new man into her life. Likewise, her love interest is recovering from a heartbreak of his own. The woman begs him to give their relationship everything he has, but senses that he is still 'holding a little back.' In the end, they end up going their seperate ways, because neither one is ready to trust another person again.
Chely's vocal delivery on this track is soft and understated, which is very well-suited to subject matter of the song, yet the emotion in the song still comes through in her voice. The song has a very simple and bare-boned instrumental line-up which incudes a prominently-featured acoustic guitar. The soft and steady drum beat in the background compliments the vocals instead of being a distraction. The song's production does not distinctly stand out as being country (It resembles the sounds of soft-pop acts like Norah Jones), but the acoustic based instrumentation does not clash with the typical sound of country music. Overall, it seems that Chely and her producers have done a fine job in making this song sound just the way it was meant to sound.
Chely may be singing about being "Broken," but as a vocalist, she demonstrates that she is still in fine repair.
CHELY'S SCORE: 8
(Scores are given on a scale of 1 to 10)
