Why Wait

It’s been an annual event since 2005: One finalist on the pop-skewed TV talent competition American Idol shows a bent toward country music, gets scooped up by a major Nashville record label and takes Nashville by storm. This year it’s Oregon native Kristy Lee Cook, and her Why Wait shares the straightforward pop-country sensibility found on the debuts of predecessors like Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler. What it’s missing is the strong sense of identity those albums boasted—Why Wait never satisfactorily answers the question of who Kristy Lee Cook is. Even so, it offers plenty of reason to keep asking.