Luke Combs’ hit formula shows cracks on The Way I Am

Despite Combs’ gruff, soaring pipes, his songs rarely deliver clever melodies. Instead, they rely upon a blandly rocking atmosphere that grows tired by the 73-minute album’s completion. As is to be expected, The Way I Am needs Combs’ voice to remain above water. Plenty of competently constructed, drab ballads, such as “I Ain’t a Cowboy,” would entirely curdle if someone else sang them. His conversational confidence carries “15 Minutes,” where Combs sings from the perspective of someone serving a life sentence in prison. It’s the gravity in his voice that makes the song worthy of note because that’s where his vulnerability is best showcased. The title track is similarly powerful. Combs has expressed discomfort with his falsetto in interviews before, but on “The Way I Am,” he charmingly scrapes his way toward a compelling high note. 

Much of Combs’ music comes from the Eric Church school of country rock, so The Way I Am’s biggest thrills are when he finds a different direction for his talents. On “Soon As I Get Home,” Combs locates some of Chris Stapleton’s bluesy swagger (even if the catchy chorus is a bit too broad) with a touch of organ and alternating guitar leads. That tension carries over on the aching “Sleepless in a Hotel Room” which has an irresistible anvil of a chorus. “The morning light can’t come too soon / Lying here not next to you,” he belts, like adjusting to his touring lifestyle isn’t possible. “Rethink Some Things,” with wah-wah guitars and a lax, funky groove, finds Combs indulging in the temptation to cheat. It’s the most clandestine moment on the album, a new source of intrigue. 

Combs could stand to pivot from his well-deployed clichés. For him to strike gold, he’d have to get down in the weeds and write about something truly unpleasant or embarrassing in these songs. Morgan Wallen gives us cynically unflattering self-portraits. Zach Bryan is chasing his Bruce Springsteen dreams through Tunnel of Love-like ugly lyrical admissions. Both Wallen and Bryan share big piles of songs, many unremarkable, but at least they tap into something tantalizingly unsavory. Of these three, Combs lacks an edge on these consistent but overloaded albums. As those three duke it out to be the “country data dump” king, The Way I Am is a reminder of how helpful an editor can be. It is simply too much Luke Combs to know what to do with. [Seven Ridges/Sony]

Ethan Beck is a Pittsburgh-born, Brooklyn-based journalist and critic who has written for The Washington Post, Public Source, Los Angeles Times, and other publications.