ADAM WARNER - Back When - ONErpm
With each song release over the past year, from “The Farmer” to “Boots In The Bed,” Adam Warner has continually uncovered new layers of growth, adding deeper definition to his core signature sound by consistently refining the strongest aspects of the edgier brand of country that he does best.
His very focused output has now culminated into his newest release, and his first of 2024, “Back When.”
The song, written by Warner, Mark Addison Chandler, Davis Corley, John Caldwell, and Dawson Edwards, accents the current state of the Top 40 with an ultra-modern feel that flows a nostalgic tilt alongside Adam’s reminiscing on the good times of yesteryear, looking back on the moments when they had it all and didn’t even know they had.
Taking us on a map dot tour of his formative years, he paints the small-town landscape with a smirked bent toward the more mischievous side of living outside the rules when he tallies of smoking a cigarette in the parking lot, flashing a fake ID, moving through life a little too fast, Etc.
Guiding away from a foothold of “back when” and bringing the song into a here and now perspective, Warner adds a “wish I could go back now” flavor to the tone throughout its second half as he laments on how he thought those good times would last forever, soaking into his favorite memory through the picture painting chorus:
“Back when we’s kids
Only worry in the word was who, her, where, and when
Back then, we’s kings
Ruling everything between the Food Lion and Dairy Queen
Blue flame on a bonfire stack
Spray paint on an overpass
On the highway it takes me back
Right back to back when”
As he crafts further into his wheelhouse with “Back When,” Adam Warner grabs the listener’s attention through what he’s already built with his past successes, while then skillfully slapping home a shift in sonic output that holds tightly to the notion of “you ain’t see nothin’ yet.”
Embracing a very modern infused sound in comparison to what we’ve heard from him in the past, and then combining it perfectly with the raw honesty of the lyric and the crisp delivery of these uber relatable lyrics, he strikes the right chord while intriguingly introducing his next chapter of music with a very fresh feel.
(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)