Effectively his introduction to a wide audience -- it's his second album on a major but first to be thoroughly polished, right down to the inclusion of cameos -- Whitsitt Chapel finds Jelly Roll planting a stake firmly in the heart of country music. Much of his shift is due to how Ballads of the Broken, his 2021 mini-LP, landed a hit with "Son of a Sinner," a slow-burning outlaw anthem placed in soft enough focus to appeal to those listeners who have no stomach for the gaudy bounce of hick-hop. With its very title, Whitsitt Chapel appears thoroughly country and Jelly Roll plays with this theme throughout the record, emphasizing the sacred/profane connection by littering the album with tunes like "Halfway to Hell," "Church," "Dancing with the Devil," and "Hungover in a Church Pew." He still swears, he still sings to electronic rhythms, he still brings old rap friends Struggle Jennings and Yelawolf aboard for cameos, but he also finds space for country singers Brantley Gilbert and Lainey Wilson, all in an attempt to steer himself squarely toward the moody country mainstream. Jelly Roll not only seems kinder than, say, Jason Aldean, he seems earnest: his range may be limited but his delivery is sincere, and that lack of affectation reads as country even when the sound veers closer to post-grunge malls than backwoods honky tonk.

Halfway To Hell
Church
The Lost
Behind Bars
Nail Me
Hold On Me
Kill A Man
Unlive
Save Me
She
Need A Favor
Dancing With The Devil
Hungover In A Church Pew