No doubt, Luke Combs — having ridden his historic cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” all the way to No. 2 on the pop charts — is one of the hottest country artists in the game right now.
And as such, the 34-year-old North Carolina native is in that cushy zone where he can pretty much do whatever the hell he wants.
His new album “Fathers & Sons” is what we call a “passion project.”
It’s all about the love he has for his two sons: Tex Lawrence, who turns 2 next week, and Beau Lee, who was born just last August.
The album — which continues the titular theme from 2022’s “Growin’ Up” and 2023’s “Gettin’ Old” — is also a shrewd marketing move, arriving just in time for Father’s Day weekend.
The man even has his own line of digital Father’s Day cards with American Greetings to go with it, and to boot, he’ll be featured on “CBS Sunday Morning” this weekend.
It’s the perfect Father’s Day grab — the twangy opener “Front Door Famous” sets the tone of dad-sharing sentimentality for Combs’ fifth studio album:
“Walkin’ through the front door/Hearin’ ‘Daddy at the top of his lungs/With his feet on the wood floor/Runnin’ up to give me a hug/Yeah, that’s what it’s all for/And the spotlight can’t replace it/In a heartbeat, man I’d trade it/’Cause it ain’t got nothing on being front-door famous.”
Then — before either of his boys have even reached the terrible twos — Combs is already imagining when they will have outlived or at least outgrown him on “In Case I Ain’t Around” and “Huntin’ By Yourself,” respectively.
Wrapped in arrangements that are as warm and comforting as a father’s tender embrace, it’s all sweet … but kinda sappy.
(And there’s nothing on here that’s gonna make you forget “Fast Car” — or probably “Forever After All” or “Love You Anyway” either.)
But you can’t begrudge the guy for giving love to his two sons, who will look back on this love letter from their pops one day and feel exactly how they changed their daddy’s life.
Who can be mad at that?
And this Father’s Day weekend, I dare any boy dad not to get a little weepy when he listens to “The Man He Sees in Me”:
“I hope he never finds out that I didn’t hang the moon/And I’ve never scared a monster out the closet in his room/One day between him leavin’ home and drivin’ on my knee/Maybe I’ll finally be the man he sees in me.”
I’m not crying — you’re crying.
