Jason Aldean’s single “Try That in a Small Town” garnered a lot of pre-release press for his 11th album, Highway Desperado, and served as a litmus test for listeners: Many found the message strident (or worse), while others found affirmation. It’s primarily the latter group to whom Aldean is singing on this album, even though the other songs aren’t nearly as topical. Aldean addresses those fans directly on the opening track, “Tough Crowd”, which plays like a concert performance with piped-in crowd noise. From the stage, he spots “some country-ass, beer-drinkin’, hell-raisin’ go-all-nighters” and “dirt-turnin’, diesel-burnin’, hard-workin’ nine-to-fivers” and sings one in their honour. In the crunchy “Let Your Boys Be Country”, he has a little fun with an endorsement of rural life. True to Aldean’s past albums, the guitars on Highway Desperado are aggressive and the drums are heavy, with many tracks evoking the post-grunge era in ringing, minor-key arrangements. The album also has plenty of interesting stuff about dysfunctional relationships and self-destructive tendencies. “Whose Rearview” has Aldean wondering who gets the blame, while “Get Away From You” shows him haunted by a memory. He’s scraping against rock bottom in “Hungover in a Hotel” and “Whiskey Drink”, but finally starts to get a little bit of clarity about his harmful patterns in “Changing Bars”. But then he immediately undercuts that realisation in the next song, “From This Beer On”, numbing himself to the point of forgetting. Aldean’s take on small towns may be up for debate, but he’s right about one thing: Love can make a mess of anyone, no matter where you’re from.