Still Having Fun Dixie Chicks, Whose ‘Wide Open Spaces’ Topped The Charts, Have Another Hit With ‘Fly’

Dixie Chicks

“Fly” (Monument) *** 1/2

Since their first album as a threesome, the prized “Wide Open Spaces,” hit record racks last year, the Dixie Chicks have won the hearts of millions of fans and a truckload of awards, including two Grammys. Plus, the photogenic and stylish blondes became national media darlings.

All that attention should continue thanks to their new album “Fly,” released Tuesday. Chock-full of radio-ready songs like its predecessor, the disc kicks off with what’s already a top 10 hit, “Ready to Run.” And the Chicks are still having fun, lending the tune an Irish jig thanks to Martie Seidel’s fiddle.

Thematically, all the lyrics focus on love and personal independence. Strong-woman stuff. Looking for love. Walking away from love.

“The album mirrors our lives,” lead singer Natalie Maines says. “If we’re all happily married and we settle down and have kids, we’ll have an album that reflects that. We’re going through a lot of stages in our lives right now and that’s what we relate to, think about, talk about and write about.”

The most daring song is the catchy, uptempo “Goodbye Earl,” about a battered wife and her best friend plotting to poison the brutish husband. They get away with the dirty deed and open a roadside ham-and-jam stand.

“It’s pertaining to wife-beaters, not men in general,” says Emily Robison, who plays banjo, dobro and guitar. The liner notes further explain: “The Dixie Chicks do not advocate premeditated murder, but love getting even.”

Throughout the album, Maines sings with her usual strength and regularly skips a few octaves to hit some high notes. Robison and sister Seidel also entertain with sharp performances on all manner of hard-core country instruments.

“Fly” takes the Chicks in a different direction, too, since they wrote or co-wrote five of the songs, compared with just one on “Wide Open Spaces.”

“Sin Wagon,” written by Maines, Robison and Stephony Smith, is a tuneful hoedown about a woman ditching her pushy man, donning a red dress and heading out for some “twelve-ounce nutrition” and her “turn on the sin wagon” - which includes some “mattress dancin’.”

Two standout ballads with engaging singing were also Chick efforts with other writers: Seidel’s “Cowboy Take Me Away” and Maines’ “Without You.”

Winning uptempo tracks include the rollicking honky-tonker, “Hello Mr. Heartache,” and the twangy rocker “Hole in My Head.”

Even with the ground-breaking, crossover hit “Wide Open Spaces” still flying high on both the country and pop album charts (hence the new album’s name), the Chicks felt compelled to come out with new material. While “Fly” excels, it’ll have a tough time measuring up to “Wide Open Spaces” - with three No. 1 hits and 6 million copies sold.