The Shires, Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes, have quite a story about their formation.

It helps us understand that sometimes things that don’t initially work out for us happen for a reason and we should always keep believing that one day the door will open to exciting new opportunities. Both were failed X Factor contestants, both were struggling musicians, but both developed a love for country music, Crissie first and Ben as late as 2012, but nonetheless, it was this genre that led Ben to post an advert on social media and the rest of their history has gone from strength to strength. It has been 2 years since their last single release, which is quite a while, but ‘About Last Night’ is worth the wait! 

I love the way this track takes you down a road many adults have, at some stage, found themselves at! That confusion, apprehension and possibility regret about a fleeting change of relationship status between friends, predominantly brought on by too much alcohol. Was it them I wonder! What country music lets lyricists do is tell stories and make them epic and what you get with the Shires is a story told by two people that intrigues you from the very beginning until the end. The harmonies that they have, whilst very country music in style, are so tight, close and unique to their voices that it makes this track very special. The creation and development of the verse and catchy chorus are really beautiful, with vocal interplays, beautiful, simple piano lines and guitars that build a song that is more traditional than some of their other releases. The melody floats over major scales, but throws in some blue notes too, adding to the dynamic and wonder that ‘About Last Night’ has. 

If you’ve not heard of The Shires before, listen to this track, it will open your eyes to a great catalogue of music. You’ll hear the purity of the production and realise that these artists, and their band, are so talented that a live performance of this song will be very very close to this release. A great track and another success for the UK country music scene.

 Country 

Author: Phil Arnold

Phil Arnold is a musician, producer and music reviewer from Devon, in the South West of England. Whilst not writing music reviews, Phil also writes and records under the name of Ugbrooke.