Stinging from a failed romance, a woman concludes, “It’s only gonna make me strong/. . . I’m moving on” (“Life Goes On”). “Love Is an Army,” “Sign of Life” and “You Made Me Find Myself” also model inner strength and anticipate fresh starts. The singer is invigorated by a loving, trusting relationship on “The Safest Place.” Her empathy for a sweet, misunderstood girl on “Wound Up” finds her “pray[ing] to the heavens to try to save her soul.”
Apparently bored with innocence, Rimes vies for a sex-kitten image in sultry, come-hither liner photos. The sexually explicit “Tic Toc” beckons a lover to “come inside my walls of ecstasy” and “make my body rock,” describing her physical euphoria in detail. Meanwhile, this self-proclaimed “fallen angel” wants to explore her partner’s body (“Review My Kisses”) and is blissfully addicted to a man’s “web of bitterness, ecstasy and sin” (“No Way Out”). Sexuality and repeated mild profanities characterize “D–n.” The confessional title track finds Rimes giving in to a wild side (“My mama taught me right/But the devil’s up my sleeve/ It’s made me kind of crazy/But it’s all right with me”).
Just as country’s Olivia Newton-John felt the need to get more Physical 20 years ago, LeAnn Rimes is playing that card today. She knows some fans will resist the change. Of “Tic Toc” she says, “I had to do all these moans in the studio. I was afraid to let my mom hear it. I knew she was gonna freak out.” Her mom won’t be the only one.
