Country music has long held a fascination in the world of off-kilter adult animated series, such as Adult Swim's Squidbillies and the Appalachian-tinged The Heart, She Holler. FX's series Archer is dedicating a healthy portion of its fifth season to the theme of country music as character Cheryl Tunt receives a microchip in her brain and launches a career in the genre. It's a long story. The plot line is relevant enough for FX to release a full album of tracks from Cheryl's (stage name: Cherlene) country career.
Fans of the series (who haven't seen one of the countrified episodes yet) are right to wonder if Judy Greer (the voice actress for Cheryl) can carry a note. Greer is probably best known for her role as Kitty Sanchez in Arrested Development, which proves both her comedic skill and the potentially grating quality of her voice. Greer may very well be able to sing elsewhere, but country music up-and-comer Jessy Lynn Martens provides Cheryl's strong, forthright singing voice for the soundtrack.
The album-simply titled Cherlene-features a couple of classic tracks, including the Smokey and The Bandit theme, "Eastbound and Down." Kenny Loggins will appear on the show Tuesday night to sing a duet version of "Danger Zone" with Cheryl. An original track, "Midnight Blues," has been put up on Soundcloud, and it's surprisingly un-comical. As the Daisy-Duke-removing album art suggests, it's about sex, drugs and alcohol, and certainly isn't safe for work ("I'm high enough to not give a f---"), but the track falls in line with some of the riskier material that made Kacey Musgraves and Ashley Monroe new country stars during 2013.
