Parker McCollum Hollywood Gold EP Review
There are certain things you expect from a country record and, listening down “Hollywood Gold”, the new six-track EP from Austin, Texas native, Parker McCollum, it’s very easy to check all of those things off the list. Having “the blues”. Check. Drinking. Check. Trucks. Check. Smoky Bars. Check. Relationships. Check. Parker has covered them all off in this six track EP and while that makes nothing on “Hollywood Gold” really stand out as groundbreaking or wheel-reinventing, there is just so much to like about the EP and McCollum as an artist that makes this a release you’d not be disappointed in if you invested your time in it.
Picked up by MCA Nashville, McCollum has already been labelled as one of the Country stars to watch in 2020. Simple and honest, that seems to be the ethos behind McCollum and his songs it’s something he instills in his songs right from the getgo. From his close relationship with his Grandfather and looking back to his growing up in opener “Young Man’s Blues”, to dealing with his good guy/bad guy personality growing up in “Like A Cowboy”, each track finds the Country star in a frank and honest mood. No more so is this demonstrated than in the lead single taken from the EP, “Pretty Heart”, which sees McCollum dealing with the remorse of a relationship break-up, again questioning his own actions. Yes, these are all subject matters Country artists young and old have written about many millions of times however, there is a certain heartbreaking honesty about how McCollum approaches his past that makes this effort especially hit home. It’s also this relatability that makes you realise why the American public has taken the track to their hearts and helped it shoot up the music charts.
Through these tales of his youth and his regrets, there is no holding back for McCollum which makes “Hollywood Gold” the perfect launch pad to turn him into the next Country Music superstar. The best way to listen to “Hollywood Gold” is to go into it not expecting anything you haven’t heard before. However, if you go into looking for some simple, honest, emotional, blue-collar, bluesy country music, then “Hollywood Gold” and Parker McCollum will tug on every one of your heartstrings.
