ALBUM REVIEW: Paul Cauthen Brings Wit and Wide Range to ‘Country Coming Down’

Paul Cauthen offers a sequence of catchy, humorous, and heartfelt songs on his latest album, Country Coming Down. Overall, the sound is unmistakably country, though Cauthen and his band draw from and recontextualize a variety of playbooks. While previous projects, including the raconteurial Room 41 and sermonic Have Mercy, revealed Cauthen’s talents as a singer, Country Coming Down features his voice at its most resonant, nuanced, and versatile.

“Country as Fuck” merges a rockabilly tempo and surreal dance vibe. Cauthen adopts a clear baritone on verses and a higher-pitched and more strained delivery on choruses, bringing to mind a psychedelically inspired duet between Whitey Morgan and Hank Williams Jr. “Till the Day I Die” spotlights Cauthen as a possibly tongue-in-cheek country lounge singer, his melody screaming ’70s pop a la Tom Jones, albeit with a trippy, mock-karaoke flourish.

“Champagne & a Limo” further mines the dance-y-beat-and-slinky-atmosphere template. Cauthen equates his success with a bottle of bubbly, an ostentatious car, and assorted bling. On one hand, he accepts his perks at face value and enjoys himself; on the other hand, he recognizes that the situation is to some degree toxic and psychologically unsustainable. In this way, Cauthen embraces a fun-loving lightness while also addressing the way in which people can be entranced by glitzy distractions.

With “Country Clubbin’,” Cauthen offers a more focused yet still spoofy take on American excess. “I come from torn jeans / rusty trucks worn boots couple bucks,” he sings, speaking into his origins. He adds, “Now it’s 9-iron cart girl / get to take her for a whirl,” summing up the odd hierarchies of American classism by depicting a decadent and ultimately unappealing country-club scene.

“Caught Me at a Good Time” has a sultry, swingy feel, replete with a Johnny Cash-indebted vocal. A notable guitar part infuses the tune with a swampy timbre reminiscent of ZZ Top circa the underrated Degüello. “High Heels,” with its blue-collar narrative and drawly vocal, may remind some listeners of Jamey Johnson or early Sturgill Simpson. While Johnson and Simpson, however, tend to pivot into wryly confessional commentary, Cauthen is content to remain straightforwardly upbeat, telling his partner that she’s “turning [him] on like a neon light.”

With the closing title tune, Cauthen entertains an Edenic vision of his future (“At my cabin in the country / far away from city lights”) while acknowledging current hardships (“I’ve been … crashing on my buddy’s couch for weeks / … I hardly even make my ends meet”). One imagines that Cauthen is drawing from personal experience while also voicing the perspective of many who are dreaming of a better tomorrow while enduring the economic, environmental, and political challenges of today. He occurs as resilient yet troubled, hopeful yet realistic, confident yet melancholy.

Country Coming Down shows Cauthen navigating a variety of sonic contexts while demonstrating his vocal, lyrical, and emotional range. Honing and expanding on previous work, he’s consistently engaging and often riveting, due mostly to his signature songcraft and ability to integrate satire and realism. Cauthen invites us to join his party, though he never forgets — and doesn’t want us to forget either — that we live during difficult times.