One of the most popular and widely applauded releases of 2023 is this album, Zach Bryan’s fourth self-titled studio album release. Being an up-and-coming musician with roots in Country Music, Zach Bryan went to all efforts to produce this album by himself and had a huge amount of input from guest musicians during the making of this record. Zach Bryan himself stated that there was no hidden meaning behind these particular songs and that they were simply poems, so to speak. This hit 1st place on the USA Billboard 200 and has received a lot of purchases/streams. Professional critics gave this album mostly positive reviews as well. In any case, let’s take a good listen to this album and we shall hear how it fares.

Fear and Friday’s (Poem) begins with some good acoustic guitar playing that is straightforward and sweetly melodic. This launches into a good piece of musical poetry and it is a great and interesting listen. This is a good listen and it has a Johnny Cash-styled flavour to it. Nonetheless, a good introduction to the album which sounds fresh and interesting. A good start to the album.

Overtime begins with the Star Spangled Banner (USA national anthem) being played on electric slide guitar, with some sampled screaming in the background. This is followed by hi-hats and leads into a quirky song with horns galore. Zach Bryan sings very well on this tune, and this is an excellent listening experience. Cool, clever and inventive, this song is awesome and worth repeat listens. Zach Bryan’s voice is definitely from the Deep South of the USA, and he details a life of hard work and dedication throughout. A great song detailing country life, this sounds extremely well and awesome throughout. The lyrics present are really excellent, and the lone vocal section towards the end is quite sweetly emotional. A very nice tune, with the instrumentation playing away nicely in the background. Good to hear.

Summertime’s Close begins with some nice acoustic guitar work and harmonica. Zach Bryan sings sweetly here about finding love and the simple life that one can experience in a rural town. This is a nice piece to listen to and slow dance with a lover if that is your thing. Zach Bryan is definitely talented, and this is a shining example of his wonderful music and musicianship. A very, very good Country acoustic ballad that is rewarding listening. There are many references to Christian-based life, but this still maintains a broad musical appeal. You don’t need to be religious to appreciate this beautiful music. A great song about love. The guitar playing and harmonica throughout are delicious ear candy. Awesome.

East Side Of Sorrow begins with multitracked acoustic guitars and slide acoustic guitars playing along. Zach Bryan sings deeply about losing friends in a war and missing love from abroad. This is brilliantly sung, performed and played. A fantastic and emotionally moving song that sounds very, very good. This is a bit of a plea to reach out to God and also to try to make it in life. Nonetheless, a fantastic Southern USA tune. There are trumpets thrown in for good measure, along with energetic drum rolls. This tune continues along sweetly, and this fine tune is a real treasure to hear. Even the profanities throughout are emotionally delivered. A fine and good tune from Zach Bryan, this album is solid gold and a real winner. A very decent listen and the singing and music will take you to a better place. Sweet.

Hey Driver (feat. The War and Treaty) begins with a brief studio chat and count-in, leading into a very sweet Southern Rock piece about travelling throughout a sweeter part of the country. Zach Bryan sings emotionally and powerfully on this song, and the guest appearance is just as welcome here. A really great tune to listen to, the music is well structured and played with piano, acoustic guitars strumming away and great singing throughout. A very, very good listen throughout. In the midsection, Zach Bryan sings about being borderline giving up on things in discussion with a designated driver. A fine and fantastic tune to hear and to listen to, this is a whiskey-soaked classic for a song. Beautiful and lovely, this ends with a great piano solo to match the song. This is a great listen throughout. A highlight of this wonderful album. Great to hear.

Fear and Friday’s begins with some loose drumming and guitars, before launching into a very U2 Joshua Tree-era sounding piece. This sounds sweet, lovely and excellent. The music present is pretty and tuneful. Zach Bryan sings nicely on this song, and this tune is about more brutal life experiences and it is a real redneck sort of listen in its own way. Handclaps and other textures illuminate this song very nicely. All in all, a very awesome tune to hear and listen to. A nice guitar solo is present here, and this short and sweet tune sounds very pleasant. There is clapping and cheering at the end here, a nice touch.

Ticking begins with an acoustic slide guitar and additional guitar harmonics. Soon enough, a Redneck-sounding Country tune enters with fiddle being played as well. Zach Bryan sings sweetly about losing a lover, and this is a sad lament sort of listen. This is a deep, meaningful and emotional piece that is worth listening to if one is in a low mood. Soon enough, this song launches into a rhythmic acoustic guitar-driven piece with banjo, fiddle and other instrumentation that sounds excellent. The music is a sort of start/stop listening experience which is a moving listen with some great production and singing throughout. This is a really excellent ballad that is sweet and lovely, even if it is a sad and moving listening experience. Zach Bryan is a great singer-songwriter. This eventually winds up in a moving way at the end, and this is a memorable song.

Holy Roller (feat. Sierra Ferrell) begins with some heavily reverberated acoustic guitars which gradually come to the fore of the music here. This eventually launches into a super sweet-sounding piece of music. This is a very sweet song based on Christian values that is about discovering God with a lover through love and music. A good song to experience, this song has a fairly socially limited message, but it is really great to hear. Nonetheless, a good tune with slide guitars and other excellent music and singing-based textures throughout. An awesome listen from start to finish, this continues the genuinely great and consistent nature musically of this album. There is a nice and sweet acoustic guitar solo towards the end of this song, keeping it real. Zach Bryan is a musical legend without a doubt or question. A very pretty and lovely listen from start to finish.

Jake’s Piano – Long Island begins with organ and piano being played. This is somewhat different as an introductory music section here. It adds a slightly different and adventurous flavour to the mix in the album. Zach Bryan sings about losing one’s love. He creates a story about missing the girl of his dreams, and the piano playing throughout is very sweet and enjoyable. A great tune to listen to, this is an unusual gem on this album but is also a memorable tune to enjoy. The singing stops for a little bit, leaving the organ and piano sections to go on. Clean electric guitar follows, and this tune builds up in emotion and intensity throughout. Zach Bryan sounds very deep and emotional throughout, and this is a great song about missing love and dealing with some intense and painful emotional feelings in one’s life. In any case, this is a fantastic song, despite the negativity throughout it. A great listening experience, and a longer song of this album that works incredibly well. A very good listen indeed, this is sobering music for missing the love of one’s life. A good tune.

El Dorado launches into a hybrid electric/acoustic guitar-led piece with chugging rhythms, fiddles galore and Zach Bryan singing very nicely along on this song. This is, without a doubt, one of the best albums released in 2023. Zach Bryan creates stories that make sense and sound melodic and consistent throughout. The music is very sweet, and the Fender Telecaster-styled guitar parts sound excellent throughout. A cool tune to listen to about simple things and a rural USA sort of landscape, this is genuinely a really sweet and enjoyable listening experience about past memories of love and life. A thoroughly cool and enjoyable song, this is a real winner. There is a Beatlesque feel to the guitar solo, followed by a quick conclusion that is super sweet. Excellent.

I Remember Everything (feat. Kacey Musgraves) begins with some slow and melodic sounds including acoustic guitar, strings, slide guitar and soft drums. Zach Bryan sings about drinking whiskey and launches into an extremely moving listening experience about love and memories from a relationship. A very moving, sweet and lovely song, this is immediately a musical classic. Zach Bryan sings about loving and drinking with a partner. Kacey Musgraves sings sweetly here as well, and her appearance is most welcome in this tune. This is a song about hurt feelings and heartaches involved. A dramatic and sad listening experience, but something that fits this excellent album nicely. A very good song, more people should be aware of this wonderful music and its cultural relevance to this day. It wraps up with moving lyrics and a sad feel overall. A great but sad song.

Tourniquet begins with some piano being played in a melodic way. Acoustic guitar enters, and this song gets moving. Zach Bryan sings in a deep and emotional way, and this is about helping a lady who has experienced a loss of some sort. This again is a very good listening experience. Zach Bryan illustrates his self-worth and there are some samples of crowd chatter before the rest of the music and lyrics hit you. A really good and interesting listen about being a reassuring lover. Nonetheless, this works extremely nicely. There is a fuzz-heavy guitar solo in the second half of this song, and Zach Bryan sings a little like Van Morrison here, but in an original way. A good listening experience musically and melodically. Awesome.

Spotless (feat. The Lumineers) begins with some muted acoustic guitar parts and launches into a sweet, soft ballad to listen to. Zach Bryan sings well here, and the lyrics paint an imperfect picture of life. A really lovely listening experience, in any case. This has some excellent guitar work and a piano throughout. The mixture of singing by Zach Bryan and guests is fantastic, and this song is emotionally powerful, even for such a song of this sort. A really excellent and enjoyable piece of music that sounds fantastic and excellent, this is one of the standouts from this album. A great song and this runs less than three minutes throughout. A thoroughly decent piece of music.

Tradesman begins with some smooth and sweet acoustic guitar parts and sounds great. It has a more optimistic spirit throughout this song, and it is a good listen. Zach Bryan truly proves himself to be a decent talent on this album and is definitely worth listening to and paying attention to. A very unique and fresh tune about desiring to be a tradesman and living a simple life. The music throughout is very lovely to listen to, with some neck pickup fuzz guitar throughout. This is a surprisingly consistent listen as an album and has lyrics wishing for a simple life. An awesome tune to hear, this sounds very magical. Towards the end, Zach Bryan gets into an intense piece of music that sounds imaginative and wonderful. Really great to hear. A fine and simple piece of music throughout.

Smaller Acts begins with some punchy acoustic guitar strumming and some background noise. This has Zach Bryan singing about a lover who cherishes, indeed, the smaller things in life. A strangely mixed piece of music that sounds sweet, supercharged and excellent, this is a joyful and wonderful listen throughout. Zach Bryan sings from the heart here, and this is another great acoustic ballad that fits nicely on this album. Nonetheless, a really cool piece of music that is worth playing with your partner to appreciate their company. Great to listen to, and another solid gold gem from Zach Bryan. This ends with some frogs croaking mixed in with this song, along with a good conclusion. Very nice.

Oklahoman Son begins with Zach Bryan clearing his throat, and quickly launching into another pure acoustic guitar ballad. This is the last song on this wonderful album. He plays simple music and sings well here. Zach Bryan sings about missing the USA state of Oklahoma and sings some picturesque lyrics with a powerful voice. This is a deep and emotional piece of music that wraps up this joyful listen of an album. The acoustic guitar playing and singing are very fresh and unique sounding. This dude clearly has a magical musical gift, and he sings about love and wishing for things to be a bit better. If anything, Zach Bryan makes Ed Sheeran look like yesterday’s man, and he showcases a brilliant musical future ahead of him. This ends with acoustic guitar strumming and an organ playing in the background. A very, very good song. Very nice to hear and to listen to. Wonderful. The organ becomes prominent right at the end, and the album finishes here.

This is definitely an album that is an iconic, singer-songwriter gem. Zach Bryan showcases himself as the male solo artist of Country Music to pay attention to in the 2020s. No wonder this album and the music within have received so much attention as of late. It is perfect for a long drive with your family in your pickup truck out on the road. Should you listen to this album? Definitely, it is worth every moment.

Awesome and stunning music.

9/10