Mr. Saturday Night

Jon Pardi is one of a handful of country artists leading the charge for a ’90s revival, a mission he continues on his fourth studio album. With humor and charm, Pardi takes the best of that era—the neon lights, the irreverent lyrics, the poppy vocals—and gives it a contemporary spin, infusing elements of rock and soul into the mix. “I think the main reason that the \'90s came back so hard is country music is so far from the \'90s that I feel like, ‘What if we made country more like this?’” Pardi tells Apple Music. “But nobody makes it anymore. So they go right back. And the \'90s had such fun-themed songs.” The title track encapsulates this ethos, with an especially swaggering Pardi declaring himself “Mr. Never Missed a Good Time.” The similarly minded country trio Midland joins Pardi on another standout, “Longneck Way to Go,” a playful, harmony-drenched ode to drowning sorrows. And on “Reverse Cowgirl,” Pardi takes an R-rated title and somehow makes it sound sweet, with a tender vocal and acoustic arrangement. Below, Pardi shares insight into several key tracks on *Mr. Saturday Night*. **“Mr. Saturday Night”** “Everybody\'s got a little bit of ‘Mr. Saturday Night’ in \'em. I think so. But everybody\'s got a little bit of that lonesomeness, too. And that\'s why I love that song. So, yeah. I guess we\'re both.” **“Neon Light Speed”** “We had ‘Neon Light Speed’ on hold for two and a half years. And I love the changes of the chords, the way it flows. It\'s very sexy. And it does paint a movie scene in your mind when you hear it. The room starts spinning around and it\'s going into neon light speed. It was really well-written, one of my favorites I\'ve had for forever.” **“Santa Cruz”** “We went with a bunch of friends to Santa Cruz. And we were on the beach. Fireworks were going off. Champagne was drinking. We were playing rock ’n’ roll. And it was just a jam. And it was a very California scene. I love the waves crashing in part, that melody. And it all came together. I don\'t know what this song is, but I hope people can relate to their trips that they had that they will never forget.” **“The Day I Stop Dancin’”** “I hear a lot of John Mayer in that song. If I was ever going to play it live, I\'d probably just play that with me and my 335 guitar and make a kind of thing of it. He’s going to love her to the day he dies and then he\'s going to dance in heaven. It\'s just a really cool, well-written song, and it\'s really sweet. It\'s something that\'s got a great tempo, where a couple can dance to it. And it means something.” **“Reverse Cowgirl”** “Look, every girl that I played it for thinks it\'s cute, it\'s funny. But it\'s also charming, in a way. And the way we recorded it is very pretty. And then, in the back, he\'s like, ‘Oh, that\'s sweet, he really wanted to come back,’ but he\'s also talking about a sex position at the same time, which is awesome.”

Maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise that Mr. Saturday Night plays a bit like Heartache Medication, Vol.