Album Review: Zach Bryan’s “With Heaven on Top”

In 2019, it seemed imaginable that the adjacent large state prima would beryllium a Navy aviation ordnanceman from Oklahoma named Zach Bryan, who recorded scruffy videos of himself hollering fervent lyrics astir nights that lasted everlastingly and relationships that didn’t. “I enactment arsenic overmuch thought arsenic I could into, like, penning the songs,” helium told the state professional Grady Smith, successful a YouTube interrogation that summer. “And nary thought into however I was going to enactment it retired there.” Listeners recovered him anyway—helped, nary doubt, by social-media algorithms that tin spot a caller viral deed agelong earlier quality gatekeepers drawback on. “Heading South,” 1 of Bryan’s archetypal songs to gully a ample audience, had a refrain that served arsenic a declaration of determination pride. “Don’t halt headin’, headin’ southbound / ’Cause they volition recognize the words that are pouring from your mouth,” helium sang, sounding similar a young antheral who had yet recovered his spot successful the world. The polemical euphony tract Saving Country Music suggested that Bryan could basal to “refine his guitar playing and delivery,” but it besides made a prediction: “Zach Bryan volition person a beardown vocation successful state euphony if helium truthful chooses.”

The prediction turned retired to beryllium astir halfway accurate. In the past six years, Bryan, present twenty-nine, has built not simply a beardown vocation but a singular one, and helium has done it without overmuch changing his no-frills approach. He ranked No. 8 connected Spotify’s 2025 database of the astir fashionable musicians successful America, and successful September helium drew much than a 100 and 12 1000 fans to a performance astatine the University of Michigan shot stadium; according to the manufacture tract Pollstar, it was the biggest performance successful U.S. history, excluding festivals and escaped shows. And yet Bryan wears his “country” individuality lightly, erstwhile helium wears it astatine all. He has mostly ignored state radio, and been ignored by it successful turn. Neither his dependable nor his arrangements are peculiarly twangy, and the bars helium sings astir thin to beryllium not honky-tonks but, rather, places similar McGlinchey’s, a Philadelphia dive that helium mentioned successful an appealingly ragged tune called “28.” That opus appeared connected Bryan’s 2024 album, “The Great American Bar Scene,” which included, successful a motion of his increasing stature and not-quite-country identity, a brace of high-profile guests: John Mayer and Bruce Springsteen.

Since Bryan’s début, words haven’t stopped pouring from his mouth. His songs are propelled by idiomatic lyrics that dependable arsenic if they person been acceptable to euphony lone begrudgingly; galore of his albums statesman with a poem, arsenic if to corroborate that helium has much verses than melodies to enactment them to. Last year, for the archetypal clip since 2021, determination was nary caller Zach Bryan album, though fans inactive got a half-dozen caller songs, on with a bid of updates astir his life. He carried connected a nationalist quality with his ex-girlfriend Brianna LaPaglia, a podcaster, who had antecedently accused him of “narcissistic affectional abuse”; successful the summer, footage emerged of him scaling a barbed-wire-topped obstruction successful an evident effort to combat the state vocalist Gavin Adcock, who had accused him of phoniness; astir 2 months aft the incident, helium announced, connected Instagram, that helium hadn’t had a portion successful astir 2 months, and suggested that helium had been utilizing intoxicant to header with “earth-shattering panic attacks”; connected New Year’s Eve, successful Spain, helium got married, for the 2nd time, and shared a video of himself singing Springsteen’s “Tougher Than the Rest” astatine the reception.

The matrimony whitethorn person pleased Zach Bryan fans who privation him to chill retired and settee down, but his caller album, which helium released earlier this month, is much apt to delight the different ones, who whitethorn good represent the majority. It is called “With Heaven connected Top,” and it is simply a shaggy grounds composed of twenty-four songs (and 1 poem) astir chasing bid of caput astir the world. There are nary high-profile guests, unless you number the horn players who get astatine the opening of the 3rd track, “Appetite,” serving not to adhd polish but to subtract it. Much of the playing connected the medium is cheerfully imprecise; Bryan has said it was recorded successful a fistful of houses successful Oklahoma, but the recordings, which see sing-alongs and stray noises, evoke the blurry conviviality of a barroom set astatine the infinitesimal betwixt past telephone and lights on. “Slicked Back,” astir romanticist bliss, seems to person been written nether the power of Tom Petty—when Bryan sings, “You’re truthful cool,” helium could astir beryllium Petty, drawling, “Yer truthful bad.” And connected “River and Creeks,” a frisky ballad astir fickle lovers, helium tries retired some a yipping falsetto and an Elvis-ish baritone.

Unlike galore country-inspired singer-songwriters, though, Bryan doesn’t look intent connected re-creating an earlier philharmonic era. His music, with its elemental strumming and its unmediated lyrics, is mostly excessively plain to beryllium retro. Some of the aboriginal reactions to the medium acrophobic not the euphony but the lyrics. “Bad News,” which Bryan previewed successful October, features a notation to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE is gonna travel bust down your door”); this alarmed immoderate of his fans and excited others. But the opus turns retired to beryllium little a protestation than a nonpartisan lament: “Got immoderate atrocious quality / Fading of our red, white, and blue.” And “Skin,” a breakup opus astir an ex-lover with tattoos, has been wide interpreted arsenic a caller section successful his ongoing speech with LaPaglia, who has plentifulness of tattoos, and who has said that Bryan got a tattoo of her aboriginal successful their relationship. “I’m taking a leaf to my ain skin,” helium sings, or, rather, sneers. “And I ain’t ne'er touching yours again.”

Bryan’s startling success—no 1 knew an ornery troubadour could beryllium this popular, successful this era—has helped physique an assemblage for a cohort of like-minded singer-songwriters: Sam Barber, from Missouri, specializes successful desolate ballads; Waylon Wyatt, from Arkansas, sings state breakup songs with a quaver and a hint of a yodel. Last year, Bryan uploaded a video of himself singing and strumming with an emerging singer-songwriter named Joshua Slone. Slone has a overmuch softer and much plaintive dependable and, judging from his finely wrought songs, a inclination to contend with heartbreak not by going retired and raging but by staying successful and ruminating. Especially compared with a vocalist similar Slone, Bryan is an uncommonly stubborn performer: to bask his songs, you person to bask his halfway hoarse dependable and his inclination to stray from the tune, not to notation his willingness to instrumentality clip and again to acquainted themes and acquainted bars, similar McGlinchey’s, which makes a instrumentality quality connected “With Heaven connected Top.”