The Road and the Radio

Kenny Chesney, who has spent half his career copping island vibes from Jimmy Buffett, hits a sand barge with The Road and the Radio, a low-key, ballad-heavy collection about the need to slow down and examine a frantic life. (”Who You’d Be Today,” a meditation on a friend who died too soon, hits an introspective high.) Nothing here specifically addresses Chesney’s split with Renée Zellweger, which is too bad. These predictable tunes about small-town living, alcohol hazes, and summertime fun seem about as dated as last year’s beach shirt.