Back in June, Colby Acuff released his highly anticipated, Western White Pines. The album was received well by critics and fans alike, prompting the If I Were the Devil singer to release an extra six songs.
Acuff took to Instagram on August 18th to announce the release of the deluxe edition to his fourth studio album. The post expressed his entire vision for the Western White Pines project as a whole.
“‘Western White Pines’ is s [a] project that started a little over a year ago and is a task that I have put my life into making. The project as a whole is 16 songs, but we only released 10 back in June. It is my pleasure to say that we will be making ‘Western White Pines’ a deluxe album to release on September 15.”
In the time leading up to its release, Acuff posted clips of the six new tracks added to the album. Cherokee Rose, Through My Window Pane and Ain’t No Time to Die were all teased acoustically on Instagram to build up anticipation for the deluxe edition’s release.
Acuff previously described the album as a “collection of songs that I believe make up who I am, and where I’m from. It’s my contribution to what I believe is the sound of the American west.“ The deluxe edition continues this exploration of the Western sound he has made a name exploring throughout the past four albums.
These new six songs ultimately feel like the frame around a brilliantly painted art piece. While the painting may look great on its own, putting the frame around it puts a finishing touch on the work as a whole.
Tracks like Through My Windowpane and Cherokee Rose are excellent examples of Acuff bringing a Western sense of longing to Western White Pines. The acoustic Through My Windowpane is a simple albiet beautiful picture of Acuff reflecting on the simplicities of life through his windowpane. The chorus is an encouraging reminder to control what you can control and to find beauty in the peaceful parts of life.
“Be the man you are today
‘Cause that’s all you’ll ever be
Stop looking for the answers
Let the world do what it mean
‘Cause it’s just another beautiful day
Through my windowpane”
As for Cherokee Rose, it’s an absolute heart-wrencher, depicting the story of a man reminiscing about his late wife, the titular “Cherokee rose.” Acuff’s storytelling ability shines here. The combination of acoustic guitar, banjo and fiddle all interwoven into the production provides the perfect amount of backing to this expertly written song.
Returning on the additional tracks are the highly cinematic, visualizers for all six new songs on Western White Pines. They are available on his YouTube channel right now.
Listen to Movin’, Through My Windowpane and Cherokee Rose here: