Better Than Myself

Because Alex Williams is signed to Big Machine, the Nashville powerhouse that Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts call home, there may be a tendency to view Alex Williams as the pop version of Chris Stapleton -- a singer/songwriter who is riding a trend instead of creating it. Truth is more complicated than this reductive formula, of course. Stapleton himself worked his way up through the farm system of Music City long before he struck paydirt with his 2015 album Traveller, a record so successful that it shifted the tides of a certain portion of Nashville. Stapleton opened the door for a record as influenced by '70s outlaw country as Williams' 2017 debut Better Than Myself to be considered mainstream, and that's a good thing. With the assistance of producer Julian Raymond -- a Grammy winner for Glen Campbell's 2014 song "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" -- Williams expertly re-creates the lean, rangy sound of prime Waylon Jennings. Better Than Myself moves with a relaxed, confident swagger and its leathery rhythms are dressed in snapping Telecasters and winding steel guitar. It's a perfect bed for Williams' drawl, and his laconic delivery not only recalls that of Jamey Johnson, but signals his age. Where his idol Waylon boasted a full-throated vocal style, Williams feels appealingly lackadaisical, with a laid-back attitude that suits his tales of freak flags, old tattoos, strange days, and weed quite well. As sheer sonics, all these qualities make Better Than Myself pleasing, but it sustains its pleasure thanks to the sturdiness of Williams' songcraft. He learned a lot about constructing songs from listening to those old records, so he gives Raymond a good framework upon which to build these outlaw fantasies. It all adds up to a fine debut that's as effective as pure music as it is individual songs.