Zach Bryan Says New ‘Great American Bar Scene’ Album Is Imminent, Offers a Preview With Poignant ‘Pink Skies’ Single
Zach Bryan is delivering “Pink Skies” now, but a red-letter day for fans is coming, with his “The Great American Bar Scene” album being described as imminent.
Bryan has released albums with little or no advance warning before, like the live album he put out on Christmas Day, a year and a half ago. He’s making it sound as if this one might have a spontaneous release date as well, even as he revealed the album’s title on Friday morning while he was unveiling “Pink Skies,” the album’s bittersweet first single.
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“Guys I’m teasing no body,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I write and record music reckless and fast. Just got the record finished, so it’ll be dropped on someone’s head any day now. I truly want to just say thank you for being so kind and patient, I’m really freaking grateful lately,”
The album will consist of 17 tracks — or “16 songs and a poem!” he wrote. “Proudest I’ve ever been of a piece of work.
It’s only been nine months since Bryan released his last album, titled “Zach Bryan,” which generated the single “I Remember Everything,” a duet with Kacey Musgraves that topped the Billboard Hot 100 upon release and went on to win a Grammy. In that instance, Bryan did not release “I Remember Everything” or any other track until the day the album came out.
This time, though, he’s granting fans a preview, in the form of “Pink Skies.” The subject matter is a funeral, but it’s not an altogether downbeat track — and in any case, Bryan’s fans will hardly be surprised by him delivering a sing-along that has some melancholia to it.
Bryan told fans any assumptions that the song is autobiographical are wrong.
“‘Pink Skies’ wasn’t inspired by my story. Everytime I sing about someone dying people assume it’s about my mom, this definitely was not. I just think all the dynamics in families are beautiful and interesting and generationally it’s a really cool thing.”
Among the lyrics: “The kids are in town for a funeral / So pack the car and dry your eyes / I know they got plenty young blood left in em ‘ And plenty nights under pink skies / You taught em to enjoy… / If you could see em now / You’d be proud / But you’d think they’s yuppies / Your funeral was beautiful / I bet god heard you coming.”
The song sounds sadder when the band is stripped away and Bryan sings it acoustically, as he did when he excerpted it in an Instagram post back on April 18, when it was identified as “Elegy.”
The flurry of Bryan activity follows Bryan commemorating the second anniversary of his breakthrough album, “American Heartbreak,” on May 20, a record he said “changed my life forever.” That album had a behemoth 34 tracks. The Oklahoma-bred singer-songwriter has kept his releases more economical in length since then — but he’s also kept ’em coming, since he’s one of the breed of artists whose fans have a seemingly insatiable appetite.
He’s currently out on a sold-out tour, playing arenas and a few stadiums. Upcoming shows include a three-night stand at L.A.’s Crypto Arena starting June 2.
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