Here and Now

The further Kenny Chesney has gotten into the stadium-filling portion of his career, the more emphasis he’s placed on portraying a sense of reciprocity with and appreciation for his massive fanbase, No Shoes Nation, as well as the sizable team that supports his tours. His 19th studio album *Here and Now*, made with his longtime co-producer Buddy Cannon, kicks off with a breezy, folkloric ode to the space they all inhabit together. “Not really sure who’s lifting up who/You came to see us, we came to see you,” he sings in his amiably steady way during “We Do.” In keeping with his musical outlook, a number of the songs celebrate a kind of contentment that has more to do with pursuing passion and whimsy than settling down. He offers up admiring portraits of unattached womanhood (in the trim, Eagles-ish country rock of “Everyone She Knows”), fond remembrance of living large (in the jovial, loping “Wasted”), and yarn-spinning masters of their own seafaring domains (in the elegant singer-songwriter-style tune “Guys Named Captain”). During the sleek heartland-rock number “Heartbreakers,” which nonchalantly name-drops a Springsteen classic, Chesney embraces small-town, youthful nostalgia without melancholy, imagining a liveliness that doesn’t fade with time.