The Incredible Machine
By Sugarland

So the other night I was sitting (or standing actually, because I had really good floor seats) at the Sugarland concert, and I had a moment. It was two moments actually that kinda just glommed into one big, sappy moment.

Backstory: To get ready for the concert, I’ve been listening to this latest release from Jennifer & Christian and loving it, thank you very much. There are a lot of good songs, but being the pianist that I am, I was really drawn to the title track. Jennifer is kinda hard to understand in sections, but I did the best I could and focused more on enjoying the piano and chord progressions – which are somewhat trancy (relative to country music).

Fast forward to now: Anyway, I was sitting at the concert and they started to sing “Incredible Machine” and it hit me (Moment #1). What I thought was “…hard to beat, and incredible machine, blah blah blah…” was really “a heart that beats, and incredible machine.  Made of blood and love and smoke and lust and steam.” So the lightbulb finally went on once I got the words right, and then the song made me feel kinda schmoopy (Moment #2) because when you think about it like that, the heart really is an incredible machine.

(Say it with me now…awwwwwww…)

Also, Jennifer Nettles has great white girl dance moves that I would totally steal if the necessary moment arose. Just for future reference.

The rest of the tracks are good as well. I especially liked the reggaesque/funk break on “Stuck Like Glue” that radio decided wasn’t good enough to include. Which…is why I stopped listening to the radio (take that ad rates…).

Sugarland is country, but they aren’t KUNTRY country – one track is reminiscent of Green Day, even. If you need a new album that’s a little bit country and lot of everything else (+kitchen sink), start here.

Happy listening, you incredible machines you…

Amanda

PS Also, because I’m contractually obligated to mention freegal in every music review I write (not really), please note that Sugarland is not on freegal (sigh), so you have to go old school and get the CD. Thank you, that is all.