Trailing a deluge of successes, including singles “Hotel Key,” “Make it Sweet,” “One Man Band,” and more, Old Dominion has released an intoxicating personification of nostalgia in their new EP, Memory Lane, via Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville today (June 23).
The conventional country group teased a preview of this assemblage earlier this year with the Memory Lane (Sampler) enclosing songs “Memory Lane,” “Ain’t Got A Worry,” “Freedom Like You,” and “Easier Said With Rum.” Now, the complete project is here.
Of the new project, Ramsey shares, “We’ve been through hotel keys, one man bands, boats for the day, meat, candy, happy endings, therapy and tequila. We’ve put hooks on our hooks, and all kinds of sing- and clap-alongs, and we love the look on fans faces when we play all these songs live, but we’re all adults: we know life is sometimes a little more complicated.”
“We didn’t want to get all heavy and serious,” picks up Tursi. “But we figured we could keep doing what we do… and maybe go a little further into thinking about life. When we started writing, started working these songs up, they felt just as good – even while going deeper.”
The eight-song album commences with a wistful depiction of “I Should Have Married You.” It’s a sonic representation of wishful thinking and memorializing things never done. Although lyrically sad, the instrumentation is soaked in a cheery shaker and tambourine blend. Ramsey sings, “If I hadn’t been so young and stupid / Yeah, I let somebody beat me to it / Don’t know what you got until you lose it / Guess I blew it, baby / I should have married you.”
“Memory Lane” supersedes the album’s opener and is also doused in a hue of nostalgia and homesickness, and just like the first song, one wouldn’t know based on the track’s sound. “Ain’t Got A Worry,” written alongside Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, is back in a straight line with the band’s blissful outlook on life.
“Love Drunk and Happy” is a nod to the band’s early heritage. Its story depicts a well-lived life and detects Ramsey aspiring to die love drunk and happy. He’s clarifying that he wants to be ready when the time comes, and there will only be one way to go. He sings, “Love drunk and happy on a Saturday night, with a drink in my hand / Just floatin’ on up towards the neon lights and everybody dancin’ to my favorite song / Carryin’ on and takin’ shots / Singin’ gone but not forgotten / Nothing sad, nothing sappy, when I go, I’m goin’ love drunk and happy.”
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“Easier Said With Rum” brandishes the band’s softer side as an island vibe takes precedence. The lead singer’s vocals divulge a silky side while “How Good Is That” brings the energy back up to the top.
Memory Lane concludes with motor-driven, guitar-traveling “Freedom Like You.” If freedom had a sound, it would sound like this. Ramsey sings, “So, hey baby, hey baby, you hit me. Like straight white lightning out of Tennessee. Wild horses ain’t got nothing on you / I never felt no freedom / Like two in the morning got you down to your bare feet / Take me to the limit burning up the back seat / Making my American dream come true / I never felt no freedom like you.”
Listening to new projects from Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung, and Brad Tursi always brings a sense of familiarity, like an old childhood friend that resurfaces when needed.
“You learn when you look into people’s eyes what lights them up, what gives them fire or makes them forget,” says Ramsey. “Sometimes these songs are about the absolute best escape possible. We figure if people are going to come out and spend the night with us, then from the moment we hit that stage, we want to be the best thing that happened to your week: if you’re celebrating, we want to take you and your friends to that next level; if it’s been one of those weeks, we want to get it so far in your rearview, you don’t even remember what was so bad.”
Says Trevor Rosen, “Now that we’ve been doing this in big rooms for so long, on stadium stages with Kenny Chesney, and headlining arenas all our favorite rock bands played, we’ve figured out how a song like ‘Easier Said With Rum’ or ‘How Good Is That’ can take those things and transform the horrible into something sweet. Although we’re still more ‘Love Drunk and Happy,’ that idea of live it, enjoy it and know how great life can be if you’ll let it. We’re that band. The one that’s grateful for every second.”
Sony Music Nashville
With Memory Lane rolling out this weekend, Old Dominion’s No Bad Vibes Tour picks up June 30/July 1 with a doubleheader at Lake Tahoe’s Outside Arena and runs hard in some of the nation’s most iconic arenas, choice festivals and the occasional tennis stadium through a three night stand at Key West’s Coffee Butler Amphitheater March 22-24.
Take a listen to Memory Lane below and let us know which song is your favorite by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecretscountry.
