After hearing LTG's I am thinking that album 6 is going to be further from "country music" than she has ever gone. That is not to say it is a bad thing or a good thing. I will not judge her artistry by labels. Just that it is likely............
It's very unlikely to be as far from Country Music as the Pop half of "Some Hearts" (which Carrie explained in her Entertainment Weekly interview was designed for the special purpose of holding the American Idol audience "If they weren't Country fans, we had to find a way of making them Country fans")
But, with that qualification, I agree that it is, on the whole, likely that Album 5 will be making a move in a more genre-blurring direction. I felt this was implied by some of the clues in the build up to the postponed album (e.g, working with Claude Kelly and the Jackie Boyz. (The latter pair, in fact, commented to the effect that you'd hear a different musical emphasis, without abandoning her roots). I also think there are visual clues in the recent publicity, which seems to stress strong use of make-up, classic gowns and glamorous poses - more reminiscent to me of a cross-genre General Music feel - something I also felt about the dancing in the video produced for SITW.
This wouldn't surprise me, for several reasons. Current trends in the format favour genre-blurring. This is partly because (despite the heartfelt protests of a minority), the financial imperative of the commercial sector has to reflect the fact that a substantial proportion of the spending majority get their music, if not from anywhere, at least from anywhere with a high media profile, and are just as likely to stream a Pop, Rock, Easy Listening artist as they are to stream a Mainstream Country one. As people have said, the commercially successful end of the format is saturated with Pop or General Music influence - as well as Aldean, you could mention Urban, FGL and - let's face it - most other chart artists.
Carrie may, additionally, want to break internationally - and, rightly or wrongly, my feeling is that she may be tempted to do this with an image that includes more General Music features, as a lead in. (As examples, she revived SH for her English and Irish concerts, and in both countries, she noticeably ducked a point from two respected DJs that they wanted "more Twang", and went to a quite different point in her answers.)
For a female artist over thirty, there seem to be generally two choices - leave the Mainstream, and concentrate on the Roots sector (e.g Patty Loveless, Rosanne Cash, Nanci Griffith and many others), or stay in the Mainstream and concentrate on a smoother, more glamorous, genre-free image (e.g Reba McEntire, Faith Hill, Sara Evans, etc.)
Carrie and Miranda don't have to face this choice starkly yet - but it's noticeable that they are both adopting a more high-glamour image, talking about their music a little differently, incorporating more off-genre influence, and toning down their "Bad Girl Phase" somewhat (without abandoning it entirely)
If Carrie does adopt a more General Music influenced aproach to parts of Album 5, I think she will balance it in two or three ways. Firstly, she will emphasize her Country roots, at least briefly, in interview - it's noticeable that she does this - often referring to herself as a Country girl, and even twice recently referring to herself as leaning towards "Hillbilly" and "Redneck" at home. Secondly, and more importantly, I think she'll take care to incorporate Country influences in the song (something she's nearly always done, for example, in the sometimes under-rated LN, UI and Q - all of which include noticeable Country elements to balance their cross-genre influence. This may, as you imply, be harder to find in LTG - but it is very evident (at least to me) in SITW, where the phrasing and intonation of the verse sections leave little doubt that this was intended as a Country song, by a Country singer. There are also thematic Country references at several points in the lyric.
Thirdly, I think Carrie will continue to balance her albums with more overtly Country songs - as she did, for example, with SWISLY and SLT on the generally rather Pop-leaning "Play On".
This, however, is where I feel Carrie may be at something of a disadvantage. She often seems to me as if she sees Country Music primarily as consisting of "Contemporary" (cross-genre influenced) songs, and Nashville neo-traditional songs (e.g. her occasional nods to Travis and Jackson). This, though, can be rather limiting, as it tends to play down modern developments in off-Mainstream Country - e.g. in Country Rock and the more critical "new wave" of songs addressing the contradictions of modern life.
I would like to see Carrie continue to include some styles like LLA and CGAS - even if it's probably inevitable that her label wouldn't release them as singles (though some radio stations were practically begging for SLT a few years ago). I would also like Carrie to be more experimental - but as long as she includes variety, I think she'll be on the way to her second decade in style.
