by Oliver on September 29, 2023 in EP
Directly in the slipstream of the stunning success of his self-titled album, the tireless – and recently in trouble with the law – country superstar Zach Bryan joins in Boys of Faith a new surprise EP.
The virtues of conciseness Zach Bryan remaining faithful (and in some ways even reinforcing) is Boys of Faith relatively compact, follows a coherent arc of suspense for a while, homogeneous as well as versatile, placing its guests coherently in the overall structure. Above all, the songwriting remains at a consistently high level without any weak passages.
With harmonica and wailing guitar Nine Ball familiar Americana rock with red dirt hatchings, the melody represents a typical variation of Bryan’s trademarks, meanwhile the calmest Sarah’s Place Leaning back and rocking bittersweetly, it’s a great, lively duet with Noah Kahan, which also retains an intimate approachability thanks to the sparse sound of the production.
That is also the secret of Boys of Faiththe title song, which, with subtle piano and string arrangements, tends towards an optimistic pop ballad, translates the large stage into a modest setting in order to harmoniously integrate Bryan’s idol Justin Vernon into a stylistically new perspective for the 27-year-old country man: “Bon Iver is such a generational act and such a genius in my eyes if you guys only understood how far this goes back for me and if you understood he’s the reason I started playing music that meant somethin’.“
This one finally in studio form – a veritable career highlight! – served fan favorite Deep Satin adds a bit more heaviness and even brass in the airy guise, a dramatic gesture in the opulent panorama with nonchalant understatement, and so much passion in the performance (did Bryan ever sing better?) in combination with the fabulously unvarnished DIY production (what a drum sound alone!), until Pain, Sweet, Pain with Rob Moose’s fiddle and springy drums, but still a well-rounded conclusion Boys of Faith offers.
In this respect, it’s amazing what results Zach Bryan can come up with over 16 minutes when he locks himself in the studio for a week, meets a few friends and later goes camping: The guy has had the momentum unbeatably on his side for some time now!
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