Sun, sand, and chart-topping change

Beach? Check. Alcohol? Check. Girls? Check.

Based on a quick inventory of the content of Kenny Chesney’s latest album Lucky Old Sun, you might think that the 3-time Country Music Award winner for “Entertainer of the Year” has spent another album reliving his college days and wishing for an eternal spring break.

Guess again.

This album is the epitome of the more poignant and introspective Kenny that listeners first got a glimpse of on his 2004 When the Sun Goes Down. Since then, Chesney has shown a little bit more of his personal side with each subsequent album.

With beachy melodies and mostly slow rhythms, the relaxed, “have a drink, get a tan and feel the sand between your toes” feel is nothing new. The difference is that this time around Chesney uses his knack for relating to his listeners to forge personal connections rather than commemorate the good old days.

Songs like “I’m Alive,” “Boats” and “The Life” explore life’s simple pleasures that everyone seems to be losing touch with these days with lyrics like “I fish and I play my guitar / I laugh at the bar with my friends / I go home to my wife / I pray every night / I can do it all over again” from “The Life.”

Meanwhile tracks like “Way Down Here,” “Down the Road” and “Ten with a Two” look at the different aspects of love, including drunken attraction: “I ain’t never gone to bed with an uglier woman / But I sure woke up with a few / Last night I came in at 2 with a 10 / But at 10 I woke up with a 2 (from “Ten with a Two”).

In typical Kenny fashion, each song manages to serve its purpose while simultaneously making you crave a beachside pina colada.

Featuring a host of outsiders, including Dave Matthews and Willie Nelson, Lucky Old Sun is definitely a break from the ordinary Kenny Chesney albums, but not necessarily a bad one. This change of pace proves that in the increasingly shallow world of entertainment, mature lyrics that can create personal connections are truly exceptional.