Following his single, “Dawns,” featuring Maggie Rogers, country singer Zach Bryan came out with his self-titled, third studio album, “Zach Bryan” on Aug. 25. One of Bryan’s older tracks, “Something in The Orange,” has recently blown up on apps like TikTok and Instagram, his successful country career. With his raspy voice and soft, meaningful lyrics, he brings a new flavor to country music. As a fan of his other albums, I found it hard to put these 16 songs of pure perfection into a ranking. After listening to the album straight through about four times, here is my personal ranking:
1. “Hey Driver (ft. The War and Treaty)”
The beautiful mix of Bryan’s raspy voice and Mike and Tanya Trotter’s (War and Treaty) contrasting sounds tie the whole song together. The overall meaning of the song creates a nostalgic feel because of his lyrics discussing how much he misses his hometown. The line, “Never make a home on the road” represents the feeling of the entire song. Bryan and Trotter describe how they feel out of place in their new homes and want to find a new place to remember what home feels like. About two minutes and 30 seconds into the song, Mike Trotter sings in a completely different key than the previous portion of the song, almost sounding like he is screaming; that critical change ties the entire song together and creates a powerful ending to such a fantastic song.
2. “Ticking”
“Ticking” comes in a close second to “Hey Driver;” where the smooth sound of Bryan’s voice in the main chorus and the change in key throughout the chorus makes the song sound ten times better. “Ticking” represents the feeling of letting go of a relationship one has tried so hard to maintain. In the line, “The thing about a long rope is you can’t hold on too tight,” Bryan is using the term of keeping a long rope, representing more freedom for one’s significant other. Bryan says he is “holding on too tight” as if he is taking the relationship more seriously. This song presents the true representation of a non-serious breakup. Although I enjoyed the key changes in the chorus, this song did not take my number one spot because throughout the rest of the song, his tone seems unexciting and repetitive. Bryan makes up for the slower tone by changing the chorus and bringing the song all together.
3. “Overtime”
The intro of “Overtime” is a piece of the national anthem on guitar which really sets the tone for the fast-paced song following. The song carries a fast beat and a soft chorus as Bryan tells a story about always working hard at things he enjoys. He describes how he lost his family to disease; Bryan’s mother died in 2016, and this song shows how he is not only working for himself but also for his lost family. “Overtime” perfectly describes the feeling of getting your dreams shot down as a young kid. Despite appreciating the fast pace of the song, it is not considered perfect to me because at times he is almost singing so fast that it makes it hard to understand. Overall, the song has a strong meaning and portrays it perfectly.
4. “Spotless (ft. The Lumineers)”
The mix of Wesley Schlutz from the Lumineers and Bryan’s voice during the chorus makes the song sound beautiful. The song shows how nobody will ever be perfect, especially when it comes to relationships; in a way, it sounds like Schlutz and Bryan are reading a letter after a breakup. Bryan and Schultz give the lyrics a negative connotation because they are comparing it to the harsh ways people think; “told me humans aint as pretty,” which they then carry this tone throughout the song. The bridge of the song comes in at about two minutes, with the rasp of their voices matching the anger of the song, and making the bridge stand out from the rest of the song. Although the power in this song creates such a strong piece, some parts sound like an ongoing sentence, without a change in tone and beat, which creates redundancy leading up to the chorus. The perfect combination of voices distracts listeners from the overall basic background and projects the overall meaning of the song.
5. “I Remember Everything (ft. Kacey Musgraves)”
“I Remember Everything” sounds more like a story rather than a song, and it sounds amazing. The song describes things Musgraves and Bryan remember from a past relationship. Most of the song is sung with a question-like tone, “Do you remember that beat down basement couch?” which shows how Bryan and Musgraves are holding on to insignificant information from someone they previously loved. The change in beat at the chorus creates a great difference between the slow and deep guitar played at the beginning. This song is filled with sadness, which is displayed in both Bryan’s and Musgraves’ voices and creates a tone to match the story being told. I feel the song would have created stronger emotion if Bryan and Musgraves sang at the same point to make the ending flow.
6. “Smaller Acts”
“Smaller Acts”steers away from the album’s theme of breakup songs. This song represents the love a woman has for smaller things rather than the more materialistic things in life. He sings about this woman with such admiration in his voice. Bryan makes the woman’s love for smaller acts sound so pure throughout the song and expresses the desire he gains from such a relationship, “she’ll only love you for you.” Bryan recorded the song on a phone, making s the representation of simple acts more prominent. However, I wish it was not throughout the entire song because it diminishes the quality of the song as a whole. Even with the small audio issue, the song is beautifully written and has a charming meaning with a positive outlook.
7. “Tourniquet”
“Tourniquet” is another more uplifting song. He uses a tourniquet as a way to describe how he is always there for someone. My favorite part of the song is the line, “if you need a tourniquet or if you wanna turn and quit;” the way Bryan sings it sounds so smooth and contributes to the overall tone. The song relates to how even on bad days someone is always going to be there for you. The only thing that is a major miss is the strange noises in between lines. Throughout the song, Bryan adds quiet mumbling and it does not fit the vibe of the song and sounds almost scary. Despite that, this song carries a heartwarming message and is overall beautifully written.
8. “Tradesman”
“Tradesman” starts with a calming guitar beat to introduce a song that is sung in a deeper tone. Bryan adds in points of the song where he seems to be yelling, which makes the song mix perfectly. The song would sound much better if the rougher voice used in the chorus was carried throughout the rest of the song. “I wish I was a tradesman learning from some beat-down old layman” shows how Bryan sees how his current state has affected him and how he wishes he could just go back and switch his life around. He represents this song as losing his old self because of the “rich-boys.” The only issue with this song is the instances of basically no music playing in the background. Oftentimes, Bryan will be singing but the guitar and hard drums are just faded out.
9. “El Dorado”
“El Dorado” has a very upsetting meaning behind it. The song is about one of Bryan’s former Marine friend Garrett Brewster, who passed away upon returning home. Bryan tells the story of longing to see his old friend, describing how he spoke about his friend with his mother and even went through old pictures to remember him by. With the catchy change in tone in the chorus, this song is perfectly produced but I feel that the chorus goes on for too long, making the song sound repetitive.
10. “Oklahman Son”
“Oklahoman Son” is an ode to a younger version of Bryan. He explains things he did as a boy in his hometown, Oologah, Ok.. He goes into detail about aspects of his childhood by saying certain lines to help visualize what he is talking about, “He’s got his creased dress whites in an all black hearse.” Throughout the song, he refers to himself in third person which makes it sound like he is sitting down telling a story. Although the song is very repetitive, he finds a way to explain everything he misses from Oklahoma while adding a nostalgia to the song.
11. “Summertime’s Close”
“Summertime’s Close” starts off with sounds of a record going backwards, which shows the rewind of memories Bryan goes through in the lyrics. The song shows the end of summertime and trying to hold on to whatever is left, especially the love he has felt throughout the summer months. Bryan perfectly represents the feeling of knowing something is ending. The last line, “… and tonight I’m dancing for two,” shows a summer love slipping away as the summer months turn into winter mornings. A common recurrence in this album is the extremely long choruses making the songs sound super redundant. “Summertime’s Close” grabs a perfect feeling of watching something slip away from you.
12. “Holy Roller (ft. Sierra Ferrel)”
“Holy Roller” takes the feeling of falling in love — real love — and explains it without even saying the word. Bryan claims to have “found God in your eyes,” which shows how much love he feels for the person. The best — and shortest — part of the entire song is the tone change from both Bryan and Ferrel when they describe how their partners, “…swing on a bottle of Titos.” This part in the song makes you wish Ferrel’s voice was stronger throughout. Although you can hear her feminine country accent, it is very underwhelming when compared to Bryan’s deep and overpowering voice, causing hersto be merely a whisper in the background.
13. “East Side of Sorrow”
“East Side of Sorrow” shows how the sun is always coming up tomorrow. He talks about some of the hardest points in his life, losing a family member, going away to the navy and being homesick, by describing how he just talked to God about the sun rising tomorrow to be able to grow from his hardships. Throughout the song he brings in how he overcame those hard times and does so by swithcing to a more optimistic tone. The only part of the song that puts it so far down on the list is the way Bryan mumbles throughout. With such a beautifully written song, he mumbles frequently and makes the song sound like it is running on until it gets to the chorus. In its entirety, the song sets a positive tone on the album.
14. “Fear and Friday’s”
“Fear and Friday’s” is a perfect example of a “relationship-situationship.” He explains to her, “…only love me like you mean it when it’s after dark,” which represents how difficult it is when someone is in a relationship that is not quite a relationship. By “fearing Friday” he explains how he is fearing the start to the weekend when the majority of their issues start. The only reason this song sits in the bottom three is because of the fast paced lyrics. Fast paced does not necessarily mean it is bad, but this song goes too fast to comprehend what he is trying to say.
15. “Jake’s Piano- Long Island”
At almost six minutes long, this song sounds boring. It tells a beautiful story, but coming after “Holy Roller,” a more upbeat-sounding song, it sounds extremely dull. While Bryan changes his tone in the song this time, there is a way-too-long piano and guitar break about two minutes into the song before singing a chorus he then repeats three more times for the rest of the song. If the song were shorter, it would probably be higher in the ranking, but with the excessive length, it lacks variation.
The song to start off the album is a poem with light guitar in the background. Bryan’s raspy voice alongside the guitar sounds beautiful but I find it bland. His poem is written beautifully but as a song, it sets a strange tone on the rest of the album. In this song, he keeps an overall deep, mono-tone voice while reading the poem. Typically, when this song comes on the album, I find myself skipping it. This is only the first song on the album so the rest of the tracks cover up for the start.
I thoroughly enjoyed the album and feel it overall gave a new voice to country music all within only 54 minutes and 23 seconds of excellence.
