Country singer/songwriter Devin Dawson began to gain recognition and praise when his mashup of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” and “Style” with pop singer Louisa Wendorff went viral, and even caught the eye of Swift herself, who in a very Taylor Swift manner, tweeted the link of the video with one word: OBSESSED. After that, Dawson and Wendorff were invited to play their mashup on the Grammy Red Carpet and had their video played on the big screen on the 1989 World Tour.
This song “Blind Man” is officially his debut single though, and the video premiered on CMT last week.
I’ve always been quite complementary of Dawson, and this song reinforces that point. Although a country song, this song’s acoustic base in the verses is similar to some softer Ed Sheeran songs. The song has definite pop/rock influence, but lyrically is much better than any country pop music being released these days. Dawson describes a night with the one he loves, which isn't that much different in lyrical content than a lot of lyrics on country radio. But what makes this song different is that it seems like the song means something, and it's not just another ‘let’s get drunk and have sex in the tailgate of my truck’ kind of song. Dawson has a slightly edgy, but sweet persona that comes across in his music. There's a fine line, between Hunter Hayes “Wanted” ultra-sweet, and the don’t care attitude of Jason Aldean. Dawson finds this line and hits it right on it with this track.
There are so many young men on country radio right now who are so much less talented than Dawson. He has pop influence, but also incredible songwriting skills that could help improve he overall quality of music on the radio. Wendorff has had quite a bit of success with her original music after the mashup blew up, and it's time for Dawson to have some of that as well.
Overall rating: 4 ½ crowns
I’ve always been quite complementary of Dawson, and this song reinforces that point. Although a country song, this song’s acoustic base in the verses is similar to some softer Ed Sheeran songs. The song has definite pop/rock influence, but lyrically is much better than any country pop music being released these days. Dawson describes a night with the one he loves, which isn't that much different in lyrical content than a lot of lyrics on country radio. But what makes this song different is that it seems like the song means something, and it's not just another ‘let’s get drunk and have sex in the tailgate of my truck’ kind of song. Dawson has a slightly edgy, but sweet persona that comes across in his music. There's a fine line, between Hunter Hayes “Wanted” ultra-sweet, and the don’t care attitude of Jason Aldean. Dawson finds this line and hits it right on it with this track.
There are so many young men on country radio right now who are so much less talented than Dawson. He has pop influence, but also incredible songwriting skills that could help improve he overall quality of music on the radio. Wendorff has had quite a bit of success with her original music after the mashup blew up, and it's time for Dawson to have some of that as well.
Overall rating: 4 ½ crowns
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