By Cassidy Byrnes

Zach Bryan has been making waves in the country music scene since the release of his studio album, American Heartbreak, in 2022. While it was his third LP release, it was his first on a major-label and it landed him the top streaming spot for a country album on both Apple Music and Spotify the same year. 

In all honesty, I haven’t listened to it and I hadn’t heard of Bryan until the release of his single “Dawns” with Maggie Rogers in January. After hearing that collaboration, I yearned for the feeling country music used to give me. Growing up in the midwest, listening only to my hometown’s country radio station (shoutout to 103.5 KNEI Bluff Country) and my mother’s CD collection, filled with Sara Evans, Rascal Flatts, and Sugarland, country music has always made me feel at home. Sadly, the genre seems to be filled to the brim with, how do I say this nicely… bigots, which makes it really difficult for me to maintain a love for a genre that was rooted in storytelling but now, it seems every other song is about girls, trucks, and beer, and every artist has something hateful to say (i.e. Jason Aldean and Morgan Wallen.) Hey, all the power to you, if that’s what you enjoy listening to but I choose to listen to those who dare to share their hearts with us, and Zach Bryan does so with blinding determination on his new self-titled release produced exclusively by him and with solo writing credit on all but two tracks. 

Bryan chose to open his fourth full-length outing with a spoken word poem, completely unlike any other mainstream artist who occupies the same genres. I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned many listeners off but I’m a sucker for it, especially because it’s actually good. “Fear and Friday’s (Poem)” seems to express Bryan’s entire life philosophy bundled up into an easily digested metaphor, “I think fear and Friday’s got an awful lot in common / They are overdone, and glorified, and they always leave you wantin’.” Gratitude seems to run throughout this record, the idea of cherishing what you have while you have it and accepting that nothing is forever. 

“Overtime,” the second track, opens with some offputting, spun-out chords of “The Star Spangled Banner” that lead the listener into some of the greatest production on the record. Layered acoustic/electric guitars, a bulky baseline, and muted trumpets adorn this heartland rock ballad where Bryan catches us up on his career thus far. While the production is there, I felt that the vocal performance was a little lackluster. Thankfully, that slightly flat performance does not stick around and the vocals on the next track, “Summertime’s Close,” override any previous disappointment. The simple storytelling through the lyrics, about a roadtrip and simple nights spent with a loved one, is completely transformed with Bryan’s heartfelt delivery. This carries over to “East Side of Sorrow,” with mentions of the lost loved-one, friends he lost during his time in the navy, his pleadings to God, and God’s answer, “The sun’s gonna rise tomorrow / Somewhere on the east side of sorrow / Don’t give it a reason to follow / Let it be, then let it go.” This song is a masterclass on how to write a radio hit for the casual listener without sacrificing a huge punch of emotion through personal musings about grief, love, and loss.

The first of four collaborations on this album, “Hey Driver,” features The War and Treaty, a folksy soul duo composed of husband and wife, Michael and Tanya Trotter. This is the true first inkling I got of Bryan’s production preferences with the crumbs of mic static and studio conversations. It genuinely feels like you’re in the room with them while they’re recording, watching them laugh and play around with the music. Everytime I listen, I catch myself smiling during a moment in the third chorus where Bryan urges Trotter to take it up a notch, creating soulful runs that push the easy-going chorus to a new level. Another interesting production moment on the record is in “Smaller Acts,” which has the feeling of listening to a live performance in a busy bar. It sounds almost like Bryan is across the room from the microphone and has raised his voice in order to reach it. There also seems to be a wooden frog being played with its distinctive croaks strewn throughout. 

Though, “Fear and Friday’s” shares a name with the opening poem, it doesn’t hold the same emotional weight. However, it does have the addition of a sick harmonica and Bryan’s raspy vocals. “Ticking,” “I Remember Everything,” which features Kacey Musgraves, and “Spotless” with The Lumineers are all ballads that muse on about love lost and love changed in a typical country fashion. I didn’t find anything amazing about these tracks, they just do what they’re meant to do. “Holy Roller” with Sierra Ferrell, who I’ve come to love after finding her album last summer, doesn’t offer anything spectacular. I don’t think the track plays to either of their strengths with Ferrell restricted to harmonies, a position that limits her unique vocal quality that’s reminiscent of an older era of country. Though, there are some great guitar lines and a bluegrass-esque production that makes it stick out on the record even if it doesn’t offer much in the way of lyrics. 

The longest track on the album, “Jake’s Piano – Long Island” is two songs connected by a continuous piano line. In the first part, “Jake’s Piano,” Bryan laments about a loss, echoing themes heard in “Summertime’s Close,” telling us that he has given up drinking and smoking which may be a reference to the loss of his mother in 2016 from heart disease. The second half, “Long Island,” Bryan is apologizing to someone for not being around during their difficult time, because of his own hardship, “I’ve been tryin’ like hell to call / My mind ain’t well and I just can’t tell you why.” Through the entire track, Bryan is attempting to not break down which you can hear in his shaky and broken vocals. This furthers the emotion, cementing it as one of the pillars of this album. 

Even though “Jake’s Piano – Long Island” is a standout, I think “El Dorado” is my favorite from the LP. With the meaningful lyrics and the heavy strummed/string production it makes for a perfectly juxtaposed mixture that has the listener questioning if it’s actually a sad song. If investigated, the lyrics reveal that Bryan is again speaking about a loss, this time of a friend, to suicide. There are references to the friend also serving in the military as Bryan did, “El Dorado, hell if they know the difference in a hero / And a man I wish was still by my side.” Apparently, Bryan had posted the song to TikTok before this release and the original lyrics more explicitly allude to suicide, with a gun in the glovebox rather than a note. I like to think of “Tourniquet” as the way Bryan has dealt with this loss. Going on and on about how he would do anything for the people close to him and if they are hurting he will take that pain, rather than living with the risk of losing them. 

In “Tradesman,” Bryan blatantly addresses the pressures and perils that come with mainstream commercial success as a musical artist. Singing explicitly about the country music industry and its notorious corruption of artists that pushes them to “sellout,” “So give me somethin’ I can’t fake / That rich boys can’t manipulate / Somethin’ real that they can’t take.” This callout of large labels, country radio, and shitty pop country artists is yet another way that Bryan sets himself apart within the genre, serving as a declaration of his morals, values, and enduring individuality. The closing track and other half of his manifesto, “Oklahoman Son,” details the distance he feels between who he was and who he has become, “You can’t hide where you’re from / With nightcrawler on your castin’ thumb / You can fight and fiend and sell your guns / But you’ll always be the Oklahoman son.” Offering a complex perspective about the concept of “making it” and the want/need to return home with the acknowledgment that it will not be the way it was. A fitting end to an album that tales the loss, love, and gratitude felt by Bryan. 

If you’re interested in artists that have been giving country music new life in the same way that Bryan has, check out: Noah Kahan, The War and Treaty, Tyler Childers, Jack Van Cleaf, Brandi Carlile, Sierra Ferrell, Kat Hasty, Joy Oladokun, Sturgill Simpson, Kacey Musgraves, Waxahatchee, Flatland Cavalry, Caamp, and Jess Williamson. I’m telling you, this is the good stuff.

Zach Bryan will return to the Twin Cities when he performs live at U.S. Bank Stadium on August 24, 2024. You can see photos from his recent sold out show at Target Center here.