Country singer Zach Top released his sophomore album “Ain’t In It For My Health” Friday, Aug. 29. Top has rapidly grown in the country music industry after his hit debut album “Cold Beer & Country Music” last year, winning the Academy of Country Music Award for Best New Male Artist of the Year. I am a huge fan of Top, and I love his new album, as it truly is bringing back old country music.
The album differs from Top’s debut album “Cold Beer & Country Music” in the sense that the beat of the songs are deeper, and the lyrics hold more meaning and emotions than solely having a good time. Top describes his new album to have “more meat on the bone” compared to his first. However, Top still stuck with his renowned style of combining traditional country music with the modern day sounds of the genre.
The 15 song album is around 50 minutes long, with each song lasting about three minutes. Throughout the entire album, there is a balanced contrast of songs with both fun summer songs and meaningful, intense songs. His two singles of the album, “Good Times and Tan Lines” and “South of Sanity,” perfectly represent the contrast in his album with ‘Good Times and Tan Lines” being very upbeat, reflecting on a care-free summer, and “South of Sanity” being slower and calm, sharing a story of Top being on the road performing shows and having to deal with bad news.
One of my favorite songs off the album is the opening track, “Guitar,” as it reminds me of 90s country music. The song mentions Top’s love for playing guitar, and he explains that he doesn’t sing to receive fame or money. Another favorite song of mine is “Flip–Flop,” which uses a play of the words Flip-Flop and Beach, matching the humorous style of American singer Jimmy Buffett to describe a breakup Top went through.
Overall, I give this album a 10/10. After hearing Top’s new album on repeat for several hours, I found myself intensely listening to each song, not wanting to skip past any. Top was able to tell meaningful stories and light-hearted moments with such simplicity, and makes the album an easy listen. I typically find it difficult to find albums that are universal to any mood I am feeling, but this album does just that- I didn’t feel pressured to feel a certain way while listening.
