Faith Hill Revives Career with Patriotic New Single

She’s back. That’s right, Faith Hill, the singer who gave us “Breathe” and “This Kiss,” has waltzed back onto the country charts after nearly five years of dormancy. With her first album of new material in more than seven years due out in the spring of next year, Hill has rejoined the ranks of the women of country music.

Hill conquered the country charts in the 1990s and early 2000s, charting number one singles such as “Wild One” and “The Secret of Life.” Her marriage to fellow country singer Tim McGraw in 1996 won her even more fans and their Soul2Soul II Tour of 2006 became the highest grossing country music tour in history. After eight number one singles, Hill was sitting pretty when she slid out of sight following 2007’s “Red Umbrella.”

“American Heart,” Hill’s first official single off of 2013’s Illusion, debuted at number 57 during the last days of September on country radio across the United States. The song is catchy and cute, but does not compare with Hill’s earlier work, such as “Piece of My Heart” and “It Matters To Me.” It feels like you have heard it before, but in bits and pieces of other songs by other artists. In short, “American Heart” seems a lot like a Reba McEntire anthem with mellowed-down Toby Keith lyrics.

Its lyrics are well written, but are not very original. “It bleeds, it scars/but it shines when times get hard/You can’t break an American heart.” It all sounds a little too familiar. That’s no big deal for Hill, who is sure to have renewed success after being on an album hiatus since 2005. Other artists like Hill have jolted sleeping careers with a successful single as well. Shania Twain had a Top 40 country hit in the summer of 2011 with “Today Is Your Day” after lying low for six years.

Undoubtedly, “American Heart” was a smart choice to release as a first single. With the presidential election less than a month away, this song seems like an appropriate anthem for the time. Other singles will no doubt be released in the months leading up to the 2013 release of “Illusion.” One other song on the album, “Come Home,” was performed by Hill at the CMA Awards in November 2011, but did not receive as much attention as “American Heart” has.

Hopefully Hill’s future singles off Illusion will win her over again in the hearts of country music listeners, as the album’s release date looms closer. While it is unlikely she will find as much success as with “Breathe,” one thing is certain: Faith Hill is not done giving us something to listen to, and if the past two decades are any indication, we like what we’ve heard.