You’re sitting in your stalled car by the side of the deserted freeway, the tenacious slam of unforgiving rain tearing holes in your tin-can roof. Then the muted radio hands you an umbrella: ‘Make You Miss Me’ by Sam Hunt envelopes the stereo, and before you know it you can’t even hear the storm. Singer Sam Hunt’s debut album Montevallo (2014) splits seams in your thumping chest the minute it meets your ears. His sweet, crooning, sometimes mournful voice lifts your hands to your heart and reminds you what it means to truly be home. Even his more sanguine, buoyant singles throw you into a floating daze and you’re instantly absorbed. His album, well rounded and smooth, plays your heartstrings to the rhythm of his classic country acoustic and electric guitar team. Its unsurprising nomination for Best Country Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards shines light on the imprint this enveloping, diverse album has left on the ever-growing public.

Montevallo is an exquisite first look into Sam Hunt’s mind and soul; the stunning album won the American Country Countdown Awards in 2016 for Digital Album of the Year. Among his most popular tracks, the touching, heavy ballad  “Make You Miss Me” serenades listeners with rolling melodies and swoon-worthy lyrics; Hunt writes, “Heavy into everything/Ready for the next thing/Catch a ride for a while, then you’re over it.” His innate talent to get you swaying to the captivating and relatable vocals shines through in this album. Creating a new, touching story behind the whirlwind of vulnerability, the folding drums and delicate strum of the guitar give “Speakers” an open-hearted and innocent feel. Lyrics like “The moonlight is tracing those treetops across your face/There’s a feeling in your eyes the shadows can’t erase” paint enthralling pictures of young and fleeting  love. Co-produced with well-known artist Keith Urban, “Cop Car” gives a childish and humorous tone even to the serious predicament of being arrested: “There was something ‘bout the way the blue lights were shining/that was bringing out the freedom in your eyes.” Hunt’s multi-faceted of view carries you through his cascading summer love (and loss) in every spirited lyric of “Single For the Summer.”

Many of Hunt’s less appreciated tracks on Montevallo were named on Billboard’s Top 100 list of the fleeting years since its release. The fast-climbing pound of the drums in the more upbeat “Houseparty” get your pulse racing and your heels bouncing up and down. The ultimate anthem of a party-rocker, its freeing lyrics express a perfect mixture of yearning for home but needing that thumping beat. Similarly, the familiar flow of “Raised On It” bring back old and new memories, describing the trials and tribulations of childhood in deeply woven detail such as, “Five 1’s with a 20 on top/Three guard at the barber shop/Ducking from your ex at the four-way stop/turn the music down when you’re passing the cops.” His specific recollections of what home means to him show listeners the soul Hunt poured into this masterpiece.

In an open interview with renowned magazine Rolling Stone in October of 2014 , Hunt talks about how making music plays a constant role in his fast paced life. He spills to interviewers, “Music is more of a kind of laid-back type, chilled-out kind of activity. It kind of keeps me balanced, I guess.” Georgia singer Sam Hunt shows us how his album soothes him as well as listeners who are captivated by its unique sound. In Canada and the United States alone, his first album was certified three times Platinum and raised over 1.3 million sales within its first year since release. Powerful influences in his song writing include Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban; As a boy growing up in a small town, Brad Paisley served as a sort of idol for young Sam. His well-crafted album rivals that of Luke Bryan’s “Spring Break, Checkin’ Out...” in its amazing take on youth and the burden of constant freedom.

Montevallo is articulate, unapologetic, and  youthful, formulating an exclusive blend of chaotic and tender moments he knits together on his naive chase for identity. Hunt’s thrumming country sound and opulent melodies compel listeners to hold their own values close in his moving album about loving, losing, and growing away from old beautiful things in a search of something new. Montevallo, although out of place in a hip-hop fan’s playlist, brings quiet hums and hidden smiles to even the most stubborn of music-lovers. Before you restart your car, before the rain stops and the mist clears, turn up the “Speakers” and give Hunt’s alluring debut album a true chance; it just might convince you to “Leave the Night On” and live a little before you forget how.