In the nearly four years between 2017’s Texoma Shore and 2021’s Body Language, Blake Shelton was not exactly kicking back. He’d put out a compilation album, made numerous appearances on the Billboard charts—notably with the RIAA double Platinum-certified “Nobody But You,” a duet with wife Gwen Stefani—and was still cranking out winners on The Voice. But his approach to recording had changed. “Just to be completely honest with you,” Shelton told Apple Music, “I didn’t even know if I was ever gonna put out another actual album or not.” After realizing he’d amassed an album’s worth of recordings from Oklahoma City, Nashville, and L.A. that he was particularly proud of, though, he decided there was no other way the songs should come out. The singer’s laidback approach to the record helped make Body Language a mostly breezy affair, with Shelton in full and confident command of his gift for delivering well-crafted country. There are pop undertones, but the record doesn’t approach the type of hybrid sounds that early-2020s country radio often trades in (except, maybe, the title track or arena-rocker “Fire Up The Night”). Shelton is chill enough to conjure up Jimmy Buffett vibes during the beachy “Makin’ It Up As You Go,” and he gets playful on “Corn.” On another duet with Stefani, “Happy Anywhere,” he revels in the joy of finding a love that keeps him from rambling. Even the lovelorn tunes, like “Now I Don’t” and “Monday Mornin’ Missin’ You,” are free from melodrama. “The album is very lighthearted and just fun to listen to,” Shelton said. “There are not a lot of deep thinking songs … except at the very end, there’s a song called ‘Bible Verses’.” “Bible Verses” is as compelling and profound a song as Shelton’s cut in his career, a somber and thoughtful exploration of what it means to struggle to live up to one’s moral standards. It’s a fitting end to a mostly cheerful album. As Dolly once said: “If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain.”