It’s not often you get a non-compilation triple album, but there’s nothing really normal about Zach Bryan’s rise to fame. A U.S. Navy veteran who enlisted at the age of 17, Bryan rose to prominence five years ago the way so many breakthrough artists are nowadays– through a viral YouTube video. This led to his debut album DeAnn that was recorded in a Florida Airbnb he rented for a two month period with his friends.
Three short years later, Bryan was headlining at the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s exactly the type of meteoric rise America loves, especially when the artist in question is a heart-on-his-sleeve down to Earth good ol’ boy who is willing to air the sordid sadness from his past so publicly and so honestly.
That’s what defines American Heartbreak. As Bryan himself has stated, its a treatise on “what being a 26-year-old man in America is like. There’s love, loss, rivalry, resentment, and forgiveness all wrapped into one piece of work.” It’s a deeply personal trek over 34 songs, with Bryan showcasing his songwriting prowess from the first note to the last.
Standout Songs: “Happy Instead”, “Mine Again”, “Oklahoma City”, “Something in the Orange”
