Critical reception
Dying Star garnered positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 73, based on four reviews. [8]
Paste contributor Ben Salmon called it "a very impressive effort from Kelly," praising his "perfectly fine-grit voice" and talent for "pairing heavy lyrics with remarkably graceful melodies" that showcase his "considerable chops within the country and folk arena", concluding that: "Dying Star is a dazzling deep-dive to rock bottom." [11] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine highlighted the vocoder use on "Son of a Highway Daughter, the psychedelic keyboards and steel guitar on "Anchors" and the "classic soul rhythms" on the title track, concluding that "[T]hese flourishes, along with Kelly's sharply honed wit, keep the otherwise moody and slow Dying Star from seeming somnolent, and they're enough to help steer attention away from the album's appealing nocturnal sheen and to the songcraft, which is sturdy and enduring." [9] Jonathan Bernstein of American Songwriter praised Kelly's songwriting for bridging the gap between Music Row's wordplay and the "naked vulnerability" of Lucinda Williams and Heartbreaker -era Ryan Adams, and for crafting stories that "treats pain and despair with emotional dignity" and "articulate the limits of emotionally closed-off masculinity" through its characters. He concluded that: "If there's anything keeping Dying Star from being an outright classic, it's that Kelly can so effortlessly conjure up the regretful young man's blues that the nearly hour-long album can coast at times. But for the most part, Dying Star is a triumph." [10]
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