Old Dominion are one of the rare country acts to straddle the line between making radio-friendly hits and pushing the genre in unexpected ways. On this sixth studio album from the Grammy-nominated quintet, frontperson Matthew Ramsey and company seem to take great pleasure in indulging their stranger inclinations, doing so while thematically touching on weightier topics like aging and mortality. The band co-produced Barbara with longtime collaborator and Music Row go-to Shane McAnally, whose knack for crafting a catchy hook dovetails well with Old Dominion’s own penchant for big choruses and sticky melodies. Barbara, named for the colorful fictional character who graces the album’s cover, opens with “Making Good Time,” a rapid-fire, feel-good anthem about the one that got away. “Man or the Song” takes stock of what really matters in life, with Ramsey asking a loved one if it’s only his success they’re after. The soulful ballad “Miss You Man” is an emotional high point, written for late songwriter Andrew Dorff, who passed away in 2016. The band closes the record with “Goodnight Music City,” a love letter to downtown Nashville with plenty of inside-baseball allusions, like nods to songwriter mecca The Bluebird Cafe and the “fried bologna sandwich and a PBR” combo beloved at famed honky-tonk Robert’s Western World.