Eric Church: Sinners Like Me

CML call number: CD/COUNTRY/Church
Kelefa Sanneh wrote in the New York Times: "Mr. Church commands a stage as if there's nothing he would rather be doing. But maybe there is one thing. 'If you gave me a choice two years ago, I would've been a songwriter instead of a singer,' he said. 'I'm a craft guy.' That's clear from 'Sinners Like Me,' an extraordinarily well-written album for which Mr. Church composed all 12 songs. He collaborated with Nashville songwriters who are as obsessed with craft as he is. The songs they made are highly quotable, packed with wry observations and well-turned punch lines, and the tunes are as elegant as the words. But those words! In 'Before She Does' a big truth frames a smaller one: 'I believe that Jesus is comin' back/ Before she does.' In 'Can't Take It With You' he wistfully remembers the one who got away, and the things she took: 'Bet she's gaining fast on Memphis, with a trailer load in tow/ Who says you can't take it with you when you go.' The album's most startling song is 'Two Pink Lines,' written with Victoria Shaw, about a young couple sweating out a pregnancy scare. … The words deftly evoke drama, but the music suggests comedy."