2LP

Zach Bryan begins his eponymous album -- the one he delivered a little over a year after American Heartbreak, his sprawling major-label debut -- by reciting a poem, a move that suggests that despite his elevation to the upper ranks of country stars, he's still the same old Zach Bryan: a singer/songwriter who prizes the cadence of the words more than the sway of melody. Filled with hushed, weary meditations about the ways of this world, Zach Bryan generally proves this assertion true. Bryan does demand that his audience lean into the songs to discern their meaning; he gives a hint of a hook, enough to coax a second listen to unpack all the sorrows racing around in his head. 

Over the course of a triple album, this approach gets monochromatic, but Zach Bryan is tighter than American Heartbreak not only holistically but in its individual parts. The midnight ramblings are sharpened lyrically and melodically to the point that each guest -- the War and Treaty, Sierra Ferrell, and Kacey Musgraves, who helped "I Remember Everything" race to number one -- feels welcome. Bryan is indeed getting outside of his head here. That said, Zach Bryan retains a certain sameness: he's working variations of a grey scale, not painting with a full palette, and the variations on a theme can get a little dull by the end of the proceedings.

Fear And Friday's (Poem) 1:47
Overtime 3:10
Summertime's Close 3:06
East Side Of Sorrow 3:29
Hey Driver 3:47
Fear And Friday's 2:51
Ticking 4:02
Holy Roller 3:36
Jake's Piano - Long Island 5:19
El Dorado 3:02
I Remember Everything 3:47
Tourniquet 3:09
Spotless 2:49
Tradesman 3:07
Smaller Acts 3:07
Oklahoman Son 4:09