Muscle Shoals
This song’s borderline country feel is the perfect opener to such a rootsy EP. I’m not into country (despite growing up with it), and while “Muscle Shoals” flirts with twang, it’s still very much the ’50s/’60s feel I’ve grown to love from this band. It was a lot of fun to dance to at the Hanson Day concert, and I hope to hear it live again someday. Any Isaac lead with a groove will always earn points with me, and this song also gets bonus points for a Tennessee shout out, even if I don’t live near that particular river. While I had heard of the town, I had no idea of its rich musical history, and until recently I thought it was closer to the gulf. Turns out it’s a short drive from Nashville, so I’ll be sure to make a day trip down there someday soon… and now I’ll have the perfect soundtrack.
Favorite Lyric: “By the Tennessee River, we’ll be turning water to wine.”
EP Ranking: 1st place
Better Man
I got to hear “Better Man” as a solo on the Wintry Mix tour and at Back To The Island. I liked it right away, but I love this EP version even more! However, I strangely didn’t like it as much when performed full band at Hanson Day this year. I can’t put my finger on why, but this has to be a unique situation where I prefer studio, then solo live, then full band live. “Better Man” as a Zac lead sounds to me more like what we’ve heard on full length albums than many of the Zac leads we’ve had on the fan club EPs over the years, which tend to all have the same sound to them. (Don’t get me wrong, I like most of those songs!) While lyrically it’s not as strong as “Young and Dumb” or “Somebody That Wants To Love You”, there’s something similar to me about the sound of these three songs that almost makes me think they could make up 3/5th of their own EP. “Better Man” somehow manages to be both mellow and catchy, and of all the songs on Crossroads, it’s the one I find stuck in my head the most.
Favorite Lyric: “You cut me deep when you let me believe that all of my wounds from you would heal.”
EP Ranking: 2nd place
Undivided Attention
The lyrics to this song have the same feel to me as “Heartbreaker” and “Man On Top”, where the protagonist just seems conceited. Because of that, this song overall falls flat to me. However, I do love the swampy sound this song has, and it’s fun to listen to while driving. But, unfortunately, it won’t make heavy rotation for me.
Favorite Lyric: Taylor’s piano
EP Ranking: 3rd place
Come Over
Do you ever watch the behind the scenes “making of” clips of Hanson’s songs? If so, you’ll know that sometimes when they’re tracking instruments, they’ll just start singing nonsense words to the tune of the song. That’s what “Come Over” sounds like to me. Even the quality of the vocals feels like a demo. In the famous words of Forrest Gump, “that’s all I have to say about that.”
Favorite Lyric: “We can do better [than just survive].”
EP Ranking: 5th place
Missing You
I got to hear this song at Back To The Island in 2018, so I’m surprised it took this long for it to find a home. In the same way that I compared “Better Man” to “Young And Dumb” and “Somebody That Wants To Love You”, the muted drums on this song remind me of breaths in “I Lift You Up”. So while the songs have very different lyrics and meanings, they have a similar sound to me. Lyrically, “Missing You” is pretty much every other Isaac love song, but somehow this time it’s broodier.
Favorite Lyric: “And the sounds of the city make me long for home.”
EP Ranking: 4th place
Overall Impression
I love 2 of the songs on this EP, there’s one I’d toss out, and two that fall somewhere in the middle. This is about on par with most of the Fan Club EPs for me. I do really enjoy the rootsy/swampy feel of these songs, and because of that, I’m looking forward to the release of all the songs from Against The World. If you haven’t listened to “Annalie” yet, make sure you go check it out… I’ll have a review of that coming soon. The second single, “Don’t Ever Change” will be released this week!
Scream And Be Frees 