Kerosene - Miranda Lambert

Miranda Lambert is one of the latest voices to emerge in contemporary country, and this album shows precisely why she's shot to fame - and why she deserves it. One of the most noticeable aspects of this album is that for such a young star, she sings with a maturity utterly beyond her years. Her vocal ability is unquestionably excellent, but the lyrics are what really makes this album for me. Deep, catchy, and undoubtedly heartfelt - this album is well worth listening to.

The style of this album is definitely modern country, with a flavour of honky-tonk. It's hard to describe as while this is definitely a contemporary country album, some of the slower songs especially show her traditional country influences. Several of my flatmates have overheard this album playing in my room, and asked who/what it was - and have then been entirely disbelieving when I informed them it was 'country.' It's definitely not classic country, but it certainly is something!

Stand-out tracks on this album are Kerosene, New Strings, What About Georgia, Me And Charlie Talking, Mama I'm Alright and I Can't Be Bothered. These are the more 'kicky' and catchy songs on the album. However I wouldn't say there's a bad song on the album - they are all worth listening to and all have a strong message when you listen to the lyrics. As with a lot of country music, it's very easy to relate to a lot of the thoughts and feelings expressed in these songs.

Physically, the CD itself is quite attractive, and the artwork leaves you in no doubt that it's a country music CD! There are no videos or bonus features on this album, though which is the one negative aspect I can think of about this album. Several of the tracks have been released in the USA as singles and do have videos, so it's a shame that none of them were included as a little bonus.

If you like Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Taylor Swift and other female artists from the New Country genre, you'll probably really enjoy this album!