X2C (Mercury Nashville, 2014)

Sam Hunt is riding the country charts with "Leave the Night On," a rather surprising occurrence considering that the Georgia native has extremely little to do with what remotely constitutes country music on this four song EP. Hunt has gained some acclaim as a song writer, having penned Kenny Chesney's "Come Over," Keith Urban's "Cop Car" and Billy Currington's "We Are Tonight."

Hunt fits in perhaps only because of the crossover sounds afflicting country today. That is evident on "House Party," which has a bit of country instrumentation, but is one of those good time songs with a heavy thud of the drum and the title repeated a bunch of times to induce you in the right mood.

Hunt leans towards the hick hop sound ("Break Up in a Small Town") with a spoken part and heavy percussive sounds underneath the vocals. Heads may bob and weave to the music - it is catchy - but it's more on the generic.

Hunt veers towards the soulful on what is sort of the title track, "Ex to See," a different take than the "X2C" of the title. But there's that big thumping sound driving the song.

"X2C" is a prelude to the release of a full-length CD, slated for late October. Country buyer beware.