Hough spends a lot of time helping friends work through emotional droughts (“Love Yourself,” “I’d Just Be With You”), alcoholism (“Help Me Help You”) and a cyclical pattern of dead-end romantic pursuits (“Hello”). “Hello” tells a girlfriend, “I hate to see you hurting all the time/… But if you’re gonna keep fishing in the same pool of shallow water, you can’t give the fish all the blame.” If High School Musical gave Troy and Gabriella a country duet, it would sound like the sweet love ballad “Dreaming Under the Same Moon.” A search for answers on “About Life” includes prayer and the realization that the devil wants to keep us in the dark. Similarly, “My Hallelujah Song” celebrates the peace of knowing that God and angels are standing by. A girl is proud of herself for resisting the advances of an old flame named “Jimmy Ray McGee” (“It hurt to wait … [but] it can hurt worse to hurry”).
Passion runs hot enough that the out-of-control singer warns a guy, “Hide Your Matches.”
The two-time Dancing With the Stars champ does an admirable job behind the mic on her first country disc. And with one minor exception, her Mormon upbringing keeps these lyrics from stepping on any toes.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
