Zach Bryan – Self Titled

      Zach Bryan is a very famous country artist from Oklahoma that has a very big fan base. I am not usually one to listen to country, but I thought I would give his self-titled album, released in 2023, a chance and I have to say I was not disappointed. Something about his deep lyrics, calm and unique voice, and amazing musicality really captivated me. His lyrics remind me of Jimmy Buffett’s deep and descriptive in a lot of ways. It’s like they are both there to tell a story, which is why I think I loved it so much.

      He starts the album off with a spoken poem which is something that drew me in instantly. You can hear the feeling and thought in every lyric he writes and then is able to convey that feeling through his singing as well later in the album. Which is what I think makes him so talented. He opens his heart about hard times to write lyrics people will relate to. As a listener, hearing someone put emotions that are hard to process into words and art makes me feel less alone. People like his music for that reason, he makes people feel less alone in their struggles and proves that you aren’t the only one struggling.

The thing I have to congratulate this album most on is that Zach Bryan has a way of making you love life for what it is. He shows that there is beauty in struggle, there’s beauty in being brave when times are rough, there’s beauty in happiness and nature. His descriptive lyrics make the listener want to go out and experience life. He’s able to portray this complex beauty of life, the good and the bad, through his music and there is something incredible about that.

I was the type of person to judge country music but getting to listen to Zach Bryan has changed my perspective on it because there are not many other songs that make me feel the way these specific country songs do. I loved all the songs I heard but my favorite song on the album was East Side Of Sorrow because there’s a very cool trumpet solo that isn’t in the rest of the album and I loved to hear the trumpet represented. I also loved seeing the collaborations with The Lumineers and The War and Treaty because they added a different sound that gave the album the variety it needed to stand out.

I would definitely recommend giving this album even if you aren’t a country fan because it can open your eyes to a whole new genre.

Rating: 9/10