Album review: Keith Urban’s Ripcord has an all-star cast, but is best when it keeps things old-school

Vintage R&B provides the high notes, with some of the country singer's cross-genre tracks falling a bit flat.

Keith Urban is back with Ripcord. Courtesy Capitol Nashville

Ripcord

Keith Urban

Capitol Nashville

Three stars

Having finished his run as an American Idol judge, Keith Urban leaps into Ripcord, the most eclectic, genre-spanning album of his career. With 10 producers involved, Ripcord is a hodgepodge of musical directions.

Singing with renewed vigour and range, the New Zealand-born country singer sounds best when leaning on old-school R&B. He brings a soulful touch to Break on Me and his duet with Carrie Underwood on The Fighter sounds like a modern update of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The organ and single-note guitar on Blue Ain't Your Color follows Chris Stapleton into a contemporary style of country blues.

Elsewhere, Urban strains to fit into a hip sound. The hit Gettin' in the Way is a clever song about desire, but the generic group choruses dampen the joy.

He stands his ground with Pitbull on the hip-hop lite of Sun Don't Let Me Down, but it sounds more like an exercise than a celebration. An experimental approach is commendable for a veteran artist. Despite the uneven results, Ripcord pays off more often than not.