On Aug. 25th, one of country music’s most popular artists, Zach Bryan, released his fourth full album of his career. Long awaited, this project consisted of 15 songs, one poem, and four features. With many leaks throughout the following months, lots of people were already aware of the songs coming out and were excited. I personally couldn’t wait for the drop, and thought that it could be the album of the year.
We started off the album with “Fear Of Friday’s (Poem)” , a poem dedicated to the album itself. The next three songs were great listens between “Overtime” , “Summertime’s Close” , and “East Side Of Sorrow”. Through these three songs, there were no features. We got to hear a pure Zach Bryan as he gave us a heavy hearted start to what
looked to preview a spectacular album. My personal favorite thus far had to be “East Side Of Sorrow”, this song could not be more catchy, and was an immediate playlist add. The sound of his band, plus his vocals, are the perfect match for this genre of music.
As this album was anticipated, many knew the theme of the project was leaning towards sadness, as that is Bryan’s style. And he had shown it in a spectacular way with this start.
Up next, we hear “Hey Driver” which debuted the albums first feature, and “Fear And Friday’s”. Two of my favorite songs on the album, I really enjoyed the feature from The War and Treaty on “Hey Driver” as it added some diversity to the album, and the message portrayed in “Fear and Friday’s” bunched in a great high paced song. Through these first five songs I loved the album.
Three of the next songs consisted of “Ticking”, “Holy Roller”, and “Jake’s Piano”. While I loved “Holly Roller”, the other two songs were two of my personal dislikes. Neither song just really clicked for me as I found them more boring than anything else. Although these two songs weren’t as exciting, this didn’t affect my opinion on the album and I was ready for more.
The last seven songs of the album were easily my favorites, with no order in particular we received a beautiful arrangement of music from Zach. The songs consisted of “El Dorado”, “I Remember Everything” , “Spotless”, “Tourniquet” , “Tradesman”, “Smaller Acts” and “Oklahoman Son”.
Two of these songs gathered the best features on the album between popular artist Kacey Musgrove and The Lumineers. With both of those, the songs “I remember Everything”, and “Spotless” were completely perfect, we as listeners couldn’t have asked for a more heartfelt grouping of songs.
The other three songs were pushing towards a slower vibe and showed off the album’s message in giving his fans what they all love. In my overall opinion, 13 of the 15 songs on the 54 minute long album were just near perfection. And it was almost one of those moments where you wish you could hear it again for the first time.
Overall, Zach Bryan truely poured his heart and soul into this album. I think he really knows what his fans enjoy in his songs and he never wants to let them down by pushing powerful messages for many people. I’d rate this album an overall 9/10, and would highly recommend a listen.
