Album Review: Jaron and the Long Road to Love, Getting Dressed in the Dark

Jaron and the Long Road to Love had the best debut by a new artist on the country albums chart of the year with his disc Getting Dressed in the Dark. That is until this week when fellow newcomer Jerrod Neimann made a splash by making his debut at the top spot with Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury. A big part of Jaron’s impressive feat on the chart in June was due to the strength of his Top 15 hit the humorously vindictive “Pray For You” (Get the behind the song scoop here.) and its entertaining music video featuring actress Jamie Pressly.

For those country fans who haven’t checked out Getting Dressed in the Dark, be prepared to experience Jaron’s long road to love - it’s not just a frivolous name to release music under – and Jaron’s journey of finding love is filled with a lot of pitfalls and potholes in the form of heartache as he tells his story through song. There is not a lot of uplifting, happy love-is-great tunes here, it’s an album filled of the downside of falling in and out of love all set to a contemporary pop-country soundtrack with seven of the 10 tracks written solely by Jaron himself.

The interestingly titled “Petals Back on the Rose” kicks things off here as Jaron finds himself desperately clinging to a relationship gone bad as he vows to change and turn things around. What follows is an imaginary connection with a random girl on the street in the cute “Meantime Girl.” Jaron finds himself squarely in that always dreaded “friend zone” as the guy whose always there to pick up the pieces time and time again for his female friend as relationships come and go in the funky, driving “Beat Back Love.”

The reflective “Without Her Leaving” shows Jaron’s vulnerability as he finally appreciates the good thing he had going after letting her go. The singer-songwriter taps his twin brother Evan and superb talent Sarah Buxton among others for “It’s a Good Thing,” a tale of the right woman tearing down the protective walls he has built. “Without a Woman I Love” is the story of a broken man, a subject that is further explored to great effect in one of the standout tracks on the album the heartbreaking “Kill Me For Loving You.”

Meanwhile, “I Hope You Hit Traffic” is written much like “Pray For You,” with a helping of bitterness but without so much spite. The final song “That’s Beautiful to Me” is a real highlight as Jaron closes Getting Dressed in the Dark with a tune about love-gone-right as he checks off a list of seemingly annoying habits that turn enduring when you are in love.

As a whole the project is one that is intriguing as a complete listening experience and also inspires thought about the listener’s own journey down the road of love. For more information on Jaron and the Long Road to Love, check out Artist to Watch and our exclusive interview with the singer-songwriter.

Nikita Palmer for Citadel Digital  © 2010

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