With Zach Bryan’s popularity seemingly growing by the hour, it seems like it’s always an opportune time to sit and reflect on the Something in the Orange singer’s always-growing discography.
From his self-reflective ballads to his reckless romps, Bryan has put together an incredibly diverse set of songs over the past four years.
Earlier in the month, I ranked Bryan’s four albums. Today, I’m going to dive into his three EPs.
3. Boys of Faith
Bryan’s most recent release, Boys of Faith, is an extremely solid albeit unfocused EP. He’s playing with a lot of different sounds whether it’s the heartland rock-inspired, Nine Ball, the indie/alternative, Boys of Faith with Bon Iver, or the bluegrassy Pain, Sweet, Pain.
This ultimately leads to the EP feeling a bit all over the place. Given the quick release after his self-titled album, it seems like he wanted to get this project out as quickly as possible. That rush can be felt a bit here. Though there are a lot of welcome additions such as the soaring Deep Satin and the hit collaboration with Noah Kahan, Sarah’s Place, Boys of Faith lacks the cohesion that Summertime Blues and Quiet, Heavy Dreams possess.
The EP is far from a bad outing from Bryan. It feels wrong to place this project so low, but that’s the problem when you release so many compelling projects: one has to be placed last.
Standout track: Deep Satin
2. Summertime Blues
Coming off of the 34-track behemoth of an album that was American Heartbreak back in May of 2022, the last thing that many expected was yet another batch of songs from Bryan. However, in true Zach Bryan fashion, he did the unthinkable and dropped another nine-song collection, an EP titled Summertime Blues.
Summertime Blues feels like a natural continuation of the lyrical and sonic style present on American Heartbreak. Here, Bryan is once again playing with a heartland rock and country fusion on tracks like Motorcycle Drive By and All The Time while simultaneously delivering heartfelt, introspective lyrics on the title track and Twenty So.
The EP captures the titular feeling of having “summertime blues” extremely well. It’s a project that continues to explore the many layers of Bryan as a person. Whether its reflecting on being out on the road and debating on whether he should just live a simple life instead on Motorcycle Drive By or waiting for the work day to be over on romping Quittin’ Time, Summertime Blues does an incredible job of capturing Bryan in a specific moment in time. After the release of American Heartbreak and touring behind it, it simply feels like Bryan needed a break from it all. This album captures that feeling in a way only Bryan could.
Standout track: Jamie (feat. Charles Wesley Godwin)
1. Quiet, Heavy Dreams
Not only is Quiet, Heavy Dreams Bryan’s best EP, but it might be his best project period. This EP feels incredibly focused and self-contained. Coming off of the heels of his first two, independently produced albums, the EP was his first project that dabbled with more production and instrumentation. To say it worked wonders would be an understatement.
Quiet, Heavy Dreams feels exactly what the title implies: it’s Bryan dreaming about a variety of different things. Whether its the dark, violent ponderings of Crooked Teeth and Birmingham or quiet, reflective dreaming on the title track and Traveling Man, Bryan is taking a break from writing first person narratives here. It feels like a welcomed break from the deep, real-life lyrics from both DeAnn and Elisabeth that simultaneously diversifies his discography and writing as a whole.
Quiet, Heavy Dreams ultimately feels like a bit of a concept EP in nature. The quiet and heavy dreams are equally balanced in this six-song project; the equal blend of light and darkness present here is executed brilliantly.
Standout Track: Quiet, Heavy Dreams