Single White Female

Single White Female is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Chely Wright. The album was released on May 18, 1999, on MCA Nashville Records and was produced by Tony Brown, Buddy Cannon, and Norro Wilson. Single White Female became Wright's most successful album, receiving an RIAA certification and spawning two major hit singles. The album received mainly positive reviews from critics, many of which praised the blending of its musical differentiation. Background Single White Female was recorded in January 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States and consisted of ten tracks. The record was Wright's second collaboration with producer Tony Brown, but her first with both Buddy Cannon and Norro Wilson. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic considered the album to "pick up where its predecessor left off", giving ten songs with "clean" and "tasteful arrangements". Erlewine then proceeds to say that the record's production helped to put Wright's vocals in the lead of the instrumentation instead of being left behind large orchestral arrangements. About.com found Single White Female to incorporate "a nice mixture of fast-paced songs and ballads." The reviewer then briefly described the production of the ten tracks: "The singles are really well-done, and the rest of the album is not what you'd call filler. The songs have that uniqueness that is Chely, and it's easy to see why this record is her most successful to date." Unlike her previous release, Wright only wrote or co-wrote two of the album's ten tracks: "Picket Fences" and "Some Kind of Somethin'". Fellow country artists Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, and Trisha Yearwood sing harmony vocals on several of the album's tracks. Single White Female included a re-recorded cover of Wright's 1996 single "The Love That We Lost". In addition, the album's sixth track "The Fire" would later be recorded by Mindy McCready on her 2002 self-titled record. Critical reception Single White Female was given for the most part, positive reviews from critics. Writing for Country Standard Time, Rick Teverbaugh called the album "more mature" and "thoughtful" than her latter record. Teverbaugh later mentioned that the track "Picket Fences" seemed as if it was "TV inspired", while he considered "Some Kind of Somethin'" to be a "lighter" track on the record. Teverbaugh then discussed the ninth track "Rubbin' It In", calling it the most "clever" song on the record.