Based on title alone it would seem that “Southern Voice” picks up the harder country edges of previous disc “Let It Go”. But it’s actually hillbilly heartthrob Tim McGraw’s rockingest album yet, opening with a slow, spacy crawl called “Still” that wouldn’t be out of place on a U2 record (minus the drawl). McGraw spends the rest of the collection (save a boneheaded Nickelback detour on the hostile Chad Kroeger co-write “It’s A Business Doing Pleasure With You”) mining a sentimental, meditative vein, musing on major changes in his life. Such big themes fit both the atmospheric rock sound and the reflective acoustic ballads well.
by Mark Emge
