A singer, songwriter, and actress from LA, Elle King‘s love of music stemmed during her formidable years in Ohio, where she heard an all-girl pop-punk band that gave her the inspiration to study and become proficient with multiple instruments, including the guitar and the banjo. With a musical background that encompasses a multitude of genres from soul, rock, alternative country and blues, the multi talented vocalist has already earned multiple award nominations, four in total, and a multitude of collaborations with some heavy hitters from country’s Dierks Bentley with 2016’s “Different For Girls” (winner of CMA’s Vocal Event Of The Year) and the 2021 platinum selling single “Drunk And I Don’t Wanna Go Home” with Miranda Lambert, as well as pop icon Andy Grammer and rock legend Ronnie Spector in early 2020’s. In 2022 she released “Feelin’ Alright” from DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys soundtrack and several singles to preview her new album Come Get Your Wife including the banjo strumming single “Out Yonder” and current Top 40 duet “Worth A Shot” where she reunited with Bentley.
This album is exciting, eclectic and executed perfectly from the first track to the last. The 12-tracks offer tenderness, feistiness, and a whole lot of sassiness. Memorable tunes are plentiful and were hard to choose from, but we picked, as hard as it was, the best of the best. Take the opening number “Ohio” with a cool banjo intro, a nostalgic feel and great storytelling of a life filled with childhood memories of missing home, creating a song full of images that range from highway travels, moonlight dancing, front porch swinging, and love for your hometown.
The pure country tone in King’s vocals shifts effortlessly between the fun sassy tunes to tender heart ballads. “Lucky” and “Love Go By” are her more tender ballads, each reflecting love and the impact it can bring. In “Lucky,” her vocals are more spot-on country twang, while “Love Go By” showcases a more gritty, bluesy feel, with the message of love and the impact it has on someone.
King’s album has an array of songs, mostly the fun, sassy numbers which appear in the middle, most notably in “Try Jesus.” This comedic tune tells the story of a woman, tortured by love, or lack thereof, and her momma is just praying she tries a different route. This “reverent” number with its church-like atmosphere, includes a chorus from background singers with a church choir sound, literally taking the listeners to church. It’s fun, free flowing, and eclecticism is on full display! This unlucky lady decides –
Mommas been praying,
I’d do some changin,
After all this heartbreaking
It’s finally got me thinking
I should…
Try Jesus
See what all the fuss is about
Thinking I should try Jesus
’cause every other man let me down
Got me singing “Hey hallelujah, a-freakin’-men
Maybe I don’t need me anybody but him
– just might be the key to her happiness.
There’s happiness, then there’s sassiness, in which the latter is in full force in “Tulsa” where King is more than happy to get her licks in with the man who left her to sow his wild oats. Except this tale has a very cleverly hidden message to him and any potential ladies of what’s to come:
He went back to Tulsa
Put some mile on that adios Tacoma
And I ain’t talkin Oklahoma
’cause it ain’t what you think
If you spell it back to front
you’ll know what I mean
The crude innuendo is brilliantly written in this rock edgy tune, and being a co-writer, King let’s her sassiness shine! It’s a sure bet this will be a concert favorite.
Come Get Your Wife is amazingly good that “Tulsa” and more than half of the tracks will be show favorites for old fans and new. It’s food for your soul and shows every side of King: with her impressive songwriting, on her own, she can hang with the country greats with ease.
Come Get Your Wife is available for download and streaming here.
Come Get Your Wife Track List
- “Ohio” (Elle King, Bobby Hamrick, Ella Langley, Matt McKinney)
- “Before You Met Me” (Tofer Brown, Margaret McRee, Lauren Hungate)
- “Try Jesus” (Elle King, Geoffrey Warburton, Casey Cathleen Smith, Ashley Gorley, Ben Johnson)
- “Drunk (And I Don’t Want to Go Home)” with Miranda Lambert (Elle King, Martin Johnson)
- “Lucky” (Elle King, Bobby Hamrick, Ella Langley & Matt McKinney)
- “Worth A Shot” (featuring Dierks Bentley) (Shane McAnally, Ross Copperman, Josh Osborne)
- “Tulsa” (Elle King, Bobby Hamrick, Ella Langley, Matt McKinney)
- “Crawlin’ Mood” (Charlie Worsham, Jesse Frasure)
- “Bonafide” (Elle King, Bobby Hamrick, Ella Langley, Matt McKinney)
- “Blacked Out” (Elle King, Martin Johnson)
- “Out Yonder” (Bobby Hamrick, Ella Langley, Matt McKinney)
- “Love Go By” (Elle King, Geoffrey Warburton, Joe Janiak)
For more information on Elle King, including upcoming tour dates, please visit her website: www.elleking.com