LOVE WILL

Audio Mixer: Mickey Jack Cones. Editor: Mickey Jack Cones. Photographer: Russ Harrington. This is a romantic album, as the title Love Will... suggests: sweet, soulful, and slow, almost entirely ignoring the honky tonk that was once Trace Adkins' stock in trade. In its stead comes a duet with Colbie Caillat, a singer who has nothing to do with country, and a cover of Exile's disco-country classic "Kiss You All Over" cut with the group itself, two indications that Adkins is mining a distinctly smooth and seductive territory, one that sonically could cross over into the pop mainstream if it weren't for his burly baritone, a signature that keeps him planted in country. This is country music but it's rooted in the masculine slickness of the heyday of urban cowboy. The occasional slight Auto-Tune placed on Adkins' voice strongly signals this album was cut in the present day but, otherwise, Love Will... plays a bit like a throwback to the glory days of soft country, crossed with a little bit of new millennial production flair (chiefly achieved in the echo, ringing, single-note riffs that are there for texture, not hooks). Perhaps Love Will... doesn't make itself known the way earlier Adkins records did, but this is charmingly low-key and suggests a nice mature second act as a crooner for the singer. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine