Hunter Hayes’ New Album ‘Storyline’ Charms The Critics

Hunter Hayes recently released his sophomore album Storyline in digital and traditional music stores across the planet. Judging from the reviews making the rounds this week, the country music singer has another hit on his hands.

The musician, who Billboard claims looks a lot like King Joffrey from Game of Thrones, is attempting to break a world record held by indie rock band the Flaming Lips. Hunters Hayes’ mission is simple: Play the most shows in the span of 24 hours. It’s definitely a hard way to promote his latest album, but the singer seems up to the task.

However, people already have several fantastic reasons to pick up the new record. The Associated Press critic Michael McCall seemed overly impressed with Hunter Hayes’ latest collection of songs. Although he believes Hunter should loosen up a little on his next endeavor, he applauded the singer for avoiding a lot of the typical cliches found in mainstream country music.

“Hayes is striving for something more distinctive than radio hits; he wants to inspire, to create something spectacular. ‘Storyline’ doesn’t quite fulfill that ambition, but fans will find the collection entertaining. And there’s enough to suggest that the multitalented boy wonder still packs plenty of potential,” McCall explained.

Glenn Gamboa at Newsday declared that Hunters Hayes took a major risk with his second record, though he ultimately believes everything will pay off in the end.

“His new, well-crafted single, ‘You Think You Know Somebody,’ a guitar-fueled, brokenhearted rant, will fare well on country radio… Hayes takes ‘Storyline’ to a new plateau, but the rising country star’s tale is far from over,” the critic wrote.

The Los Angeles Times reviewer Mikael Wood also seemed very impressed with Hunter Hayes’ decision to move away from the party albums that his contemporaries are releasing this days. Woods seems to think Hayes’ willingness to buck the current trend could work out in his favor.

“At a moment when Nashville is busy churning out bro after party-hearty bro, Hayes is an anomaly: a fresh-faced guitar prodigy who writes about his feelings and looks like he’s never cracked a beer, let alone downed one while kicking back on a rusty tailgate,” Wood explained.

He added, “At times this surprisingly strong album feels like a move away from country toward the kind of vaguely rootsy blue-eyed soul in which John Mayer specializes. Minus its opening mandolin lick, ‘Tattoo’ might fit right next to ‘Your Body Is a Wonderland.'”

Are you a fan of Hunter Hayes? What do you think about the country singer’s new album?