In a few short years, Zach Bryan has taken the country and Americana worlds by storm. And he’s ready to do it again with his self-titled album. Zach Bryan follows the wildly popular singer/songwriter’s 2022 major label debut American Heartbreak, a sprawling triple album of raw country and roots songs that elevated Bryan from something of a cult favorite on the fringes of the genre to a full-blown superstar.
Bryan’s latest record showcases his ever-evolving talent as both a singer and a songwriter; his singular voice shines, aching and gritty with a touch of soul and no shortage of twang. The album’s 16 tracks incorporate a bit more of his own taste, too, as he taps several guests to join him on the LP, including Kacey Musgraves and The War and Treaty.
What remains most true with Zach Bryan is that the star is still doing things his own way. Bryan wrote and produced the LP himself, releasing it under his own Belting Broncos imprint in partnership with Warner Records, through whom he also signed the imprint’s first artist, Levi Turner, in June.
And while Zach Bryan is likely to be a hit, the notoriously fame agnostic artist — a 2022 profile in the New York Times called him “music’s most reluctant new star” — isn’t concerned with sales or accolades. As he declared on social media, “I’ve got no grand explanation for these songs, I got no riddle in reasoning behind writing them, I don’t have a bullshit roll-out plan to stuff it in front of as many people as I can. I just wrote some poems and songs that I want to share because I think they’re special.”
Rejection of the traditional album roll-out model is in line with Bryan’s DIY ethos, the very philosophy that helped catapult him from an active duty member of the Navy to arena-packing superstar in just a few short years. Accordingly, the only press Bryan did in advance of the new LP was an interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. As he’s done for most of his career, Bryan likes to let his music speak for itself.
