With several teasers posted on various platforms for new music coming later this year, Zach Bryan has kept his fans anxious for fresh songs of the summer. Bryan’s self-titled album released six months ago and made waves in the country music scene. Along with all 16 tracks finding their way onto the top 50 of the Hot 100, Bryan has kept consistency from song to song with nostalgic lyricism, folk-rock influence and intimate melancholy. 

The album opens with a spoken word piece by Bryan, entitled “Fear and Friday’s (Poem),” which explores the nature of acceptance and how fragile and short-lived bravery can be until you choose to live with temporary unease. He shows the power of overcoming adversity in the line:  “I’ve ridden in fear, although I was afraid every single time / I’ve learned that every waking moment is enough and еxcess never lеads to better things.” 

The title “Fear and Friday’s” appears again on the EP, five tracks later, but in the form of a song. “Fear and Friday’s” is an energetic expansion of the themes pulled from the beginning ensemble, but with a more romantic twist. “We can hide out tonight out where the trees gеt clear / Those pleasе-you eyes are a man’s worst fear.” Bryan articulates paranoia involving relationships and change incredibly well. With the spirit and liveliness of the song in contrast to the more mellow chords demonstrated in the poem exemplifying the dynamics of Bryan as an artist: the two pieces give the same meaning but with drastically different emotions. 

The plucky acoustic guitar and vocal descension in this line, “I’m cuttin’ ties with things that bind my heart to this world / I love you and I’m willing but I cannot keep you girl,” on Bryan’s seventh track, “Ticking,” is a unique illustration of the feelings associated with longing and letting someone go. “Ticking” is by far my favorite on the record, as well as being one of his slower songs. Bryan is quite talented when it comes to setting forth romantic schematics in his discography, as most of the tracks in this album are various forms of love or break-up songs, but “Ticking” takes it to a whole nother level. With lyrics that deal with growing up and moving on—“And all my friends have moved away / Some got jobs and some got saved”—weaved into the romantic flow, the song makes for a gorgeous tribute to the discovery of finding your place in this world. Bryan harps on the persistence of melancholic colorful wording and well-thought-out metaphors in his work like, “The thing about a long rope is you can’t hold on too tight.” 

Bryan’s time in the navy came to an end in 2021 when he was honorably discharged after eight years in order to focus on his music career. The fourth track, “East Side of Sorrow,” delves into Bryan’s experiences involving his service and the 2016 passing of his mother, DeAnn Bryan. “East Side of Sorrow” is a very well executed utilization of personal narratives and storytelling, describing his introduction to the navy—“18 years old, full of hate / They shipped me off in a motorcade / They said, ‘Boy, you’re gonna fight a war / You don’t even know what you’re fighting for.’” I could talk about this song for literal days. The combination of Bryan pleading with God for guidance and his own self-reflection is really raw and personal. “Do you ever get tired of singin’ songs / Like all your pain is just another f*cking sing along?” shows the bittersweetness and reflection that comes with being a soldier. The track expands on how faith can be tested when faced with hardships, like the death of a family member. The lyrics, “Doctor said he did all he could / You were the last thing I had that was good” and “6 a.m. and f*cked up again / Askin’ God where the hell he’d been” represent the doubt people experience when grieving.    

All in all, Bryan is a brilliant lyricist and raconteur. There is always something to take away from his music. The concepts of this record involving love, loss and religion shapes it into a staple for modern country music. I recommend listening to this album and really taking in the words, as well as listening to his first studio record, DeAnn, that expands on his mentality following his mother’s death and was released when he was actively serving. Bryan keeps getting better and better with each release, and I am excited to see the new music that he comes out with.