After seeing massive success with “Suds In The Bucket”, one of her most traditional singles, Sara decided to record a more traditional-leaning album. At a shallow listen, the sound and production of Real Fine Place is not very different from Restless or Born To Fly. What differentiates this album from those is, however, Sara’s choice of material. The huge Diane Warren-esque ballads like “Need To Be Next To You” are mostly gone, being replaced by foot-stompers like “Coalmine” and traditional tracks like “Cheatin’”.
The aforementioned “Coalmine” is the opening track, giving off more energy than a Red Bull. The roaring fiddles really complement the lyric, and Sara sounds like she’s having a blast singing it. The lead single “Real Fine Place To Start” follows, which is glossy and infectious country-pop at its best.
“Cheatin’”, the third track, may be one of the very best songs ever about, well, cheating. Its traditional sound suits Sara’s voice perfectly, her thick Missouri drawl is in its rightful environment on the track. She sounds positively spiteful, really capturing the essence of the lyric. This is Sara Evans as she should be.
“New Hometown” and “You’ll Always Be My Baby” are two power ballads, the former conjuring up beautiful scenery of Sara and her man standing in their front yard, and the latter being a touching song about parenthood and God. Both are of remarkable high quality, and Evans, being the prime vocalist she is, interprets the heck out of both.
“Supernatural” features a flurry of awkward metaphors that could seem like gibberish upon the first listens, but actually come together quite nicely after repeated listening. The arrangement is light and airy with great background vocals. “Roll Me Back In Time” is a song about young love and commitment that could be a real tear-jerker had the tempo been slowed down a little. It’s nevertheless very effective as it is; the electric guitar piercing the track throughout creates a very nice effect, particularly towards the surprising end of the song.
“The Secrets That We Keep” is a song about intimacy, in the same vein as Sara’s earlier single “Tonight”. The latter is however superior to “Secrets”, and portrays a more nuanced rush of emotions. “Bible Song” is a song which could only be described as “epic”. A song about small-town life, where the small-town life is not exactly romantically portrayed, as opposed to most country songs. She repeats the word “Hallelujah” close to 35 times towards the end, which could be seen as hyperbolic by some, but which this writer sees as a necessary “lid” to the song.
“Tell Me” is a nice, quiet song about honesty and being open with your significant other, which does unfortunately blend in with the other songs, seeming quite trite in comparison. It can, however, be appreciated during the quieter times of life, and the fact that it features some really pleasant steel in the background throughout the entire track doesn’t hurt. “Momma’s Night Out” is a rocking track with some awesome big-band-esque instrumentation. Sara is fed up with her couch-potato husband, and she’s finally decided to have some fun. I suppose many wives and mothers can relate to this.
The album closer “These Four Walls” is a haunting ballad about the joys and fulfillment of motherhood, and how that, despite it ruining the narrator’s dreams of being a singer and actress, is the best thing that ever happened to her. The appreciation she feels from her kids and husband is one of the most satisfying feelings one could have, Sara expresses.
With Real Fine Place, Sara has crafted one of the most rock-solid albums of the 21st century so far. Her smooth, creamy, caramel-like voice is one of the best Nashville has ever seen, and with knockout songs like these, it’s bound to be an artistic success.
A+
Listen to “Cheatin’” and “You’ll Always Be My Baby” .
