Zach Bryan’s fourth studio album came out on August 25, 2023. The album has 16 songs, with The Lumineers, Kacey Musgraves, Sierra Ferrell, and The War and Treaty being featured. One of his hit songs, “I Remember Everything,” has sat at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks (the album is number eight on the Billboard 200). In the first week of the album’s release, it had over 200,000 sales in the United States. My personal favorites from this album are: “Smaller Acts”, “East Side of Sorrow”, “Summertime’s Close”, “Holy Roller” (featuring Sierra Ferrell), and “Tourniquet”.
In the album, Bryan mentions his life and how joining the Navy at 17 has affected his life back home in Oklahoma. He wrote on the album, “I’ve got no grand explanation for these songs, I got no riddle in reasoning behind writing them, I don’t have a bulls*** roll-out plan to stuff it in front of as many people as I can. I just wrote some poems and songs that I want to share because I think they’re special. Some of them are heavy, some of them are hopeful, but more than anything what’s most important to me is that they’re all mine. If people listen to it, I’ll be grateful, if people don’t I’ll still be grateful because I got the chance in this life to be original when it mattered. I’d like to say that I do not take any of this for granted. As some kid with a guitar from Okla, I am so grateful for each person that cares enough… All I pray is that someone out there relates enough to not feel alone. I wrote and produced an album that I would want to listen to. I self-titled it because I hear every cell of my being in it… I put everything I could in it and I am at a loss for words at what a blessing this life is.
This album has very touching lyrics in all of its songs. For example, in, “East Side of Sorrow” he wrote, “I lost you in a waiting room after sleeping there for a week or two, doctor said he did all he could you were the last thing I had it was good,” depicting his time in the Navy and how losing a comrade can affect you heavily. In, “Summertimes Close” he wrote, “My blood rushed to my heart you were my last hope, and the law don’t ever come back here, I reckon they don’t try I just put some beer on ice and tonight i’m dancing for two,” reminiscing on a past relationship that had meant a lot to him. The lyric reflects on good memories they shared in the summertime season, with the season slowly approaching, he begins to think about it more.
Overall, this album is one of my favorites to listen to. You can throw it on when you’re in the car with your friends, and they will know the lyrics to the songs. It’s a safe and respectable bet to be on AUX. I would give this album a 4.5/5 on the lyrical aspect of the album and an 4/5 on the features. It is an album anyone can enjoy on a good or bad day.
