Somewhere Down in Texas

1	If the Whole World Was a Honky Tonk 4:07
2	Somewhere Down in Texas 3:55
3	The Seashores of Old Mexico 4:11
4	You'll Be There 4:18
5	High Tone Woman 2:52
6	Good News, Bad News / Lee Ann Womack 3:22
7	Oh, What a Perfect Day 3:29
8	Texas 3:04
9	Ready for the End of the World 3:51
10	She Let Herself Go 3:18
11	By the Light of a Burning Bridge 3:17

Barnes & Noble

Typical of George Strait's best albums, Somewhere Down in Texas is, on first blush, another solid, affectingly performed collection of ballads and shuffles. Dig below the surface, though, and you'll uncover ideas -- ideas about communication breakdowns between the sexes, about a certain fatalism regarding love affairs, and nostalgia for simpler times. A cover of Merle Haggard's "The Seashores of Old Mexico" is lilting, string-laced, and sunny, a comforting backdrop for Strait's restrained yearning for a simpler life among the common folk south of the border. "Texas" is a mid-tempo love letter to his home state, as Strait, over a backdrop of fiddles, pedal steel, and twangy guitar, hums his pledge of allegiance to his home turf (the lyrics include a wry paraphrase of the title of one of his establishing hits, as he croons that without Texas "Fort Worth would never cross my mind"). Lee Ann Womack and Strait co-wrote the poignant heartbreaker "Good News, Bad News," and she sits in for a potent point/counterpoint duet, ready to break the bad news of her new love interest to Strait after he smoothly quantifies the depth of his love for her. "She Let Herself Go" is both a low-key, Strait-patented shuffle and a poignant exercise in semantics, as the artist moans his story about a woman who responds to his dumping her by partying hard, everywhere she can; her lifestyle choices put a double-edged spin on Strait's blues-inflected lament that she "let herself go" -- in his eyes a bad thing, in hers an energizing concept. As always, Strait delivers more than meets the ear, and he gets better at it all the time. David McGee

All Music Guide

George Strait has been so good for so long that it's easy to take him for granted, and Somewhere Down in Texas -- his 28th album, if you're keeping score -- is the kind of album that's easy to take for granted, since its scope and scale are so modest. Which isn't to say that it's dull: it's just that it's such a low-key, assured album, it's easy to overlook the craft and skill involved in its production, particularly because Strait always makes his music sound so effortless. He never changes, always staying within the confines of pure country, but part of his genius is that he has an excellent ear for material, picking songs that uphold the hardcore country traditions of George Jones and Merle Haggard yet feel fresh and contemporary. He also knows how to group these songs together, sustaining a mood throughout a full album. If 2003's Honkytonkville was a lean, tough honky tonk record, this 2005 sequel is its more sedate, introspective flip side. There are still moments that are pure honky tonk -- from the mid-tempo anthem "If the Whole World Was a Honky Tonk" to the quick two-step "High Tone Woman" -- but this is a gentle, nostalgic, ballad-heavy affair that takes its tone from Strait's terrific cover of Hag's sweet, lazy (and often overlooked) "The Seashores of Old Mexico." It's a warm, occasionally bittersweet, often soothing collection of perfectly pitched, reflective tunes, ranging from the clever breakup tale "She Let Herself Go" and the Lone Star valentine "Texas" to the excellent slow duet with Lee Ann Womack, "Good News, Bad News." Again, there's nothing new or surprising here, but it's a completely satisfying listen thanks to the strong material, sustained mood, and Strait's unhurried, confident performance. These have been hallmarks of Strait's work throughout the decades, and they haven't let him down yet, nearly 30 years and 30 albums into his career, as Somewhere Down in Texas proves. Stephen Thomas Erlewine