BY LESLEY HASTINGS
It’s often said that a sophomore album can make or break an artist, particularly when it comes on the back of a successful and well received debut.
But I think it’s safe to say that Zach Top has delivered with bells on (or should that read with pedal steel/fiddle & dobro on? The arrangements are simply stunning!) when it comes to his hugely anticipated follow up to “Cold Beer & Country Music” which among other accolades earned the Washington raised musician an ACM nomination for album of the year.
“Ain’t In It For My Health”, released last Friday via Leo33, is an ambitious (but thankfully not overly so) fifteen track project that leaves the listener in no doubt from start to end that Zach’s passion for the trad country & bluegrass music he was weaned on still courses through his veins. Yes, opening with “Guitar“, a fast paced love song to the instrument that has shaped his life and the track which provides the album’s title within its lyrics, and closing with “Honky Tonk Till It Hurts“, a fun and extremely catchy ode to the bars where so many go to party and forget their troubles, this really is a gem of an album which while at times brings to mind the likes of greats such as Alan Jackson, George Strait and Brad Paisley, manages to have an identity of its own.
Zach co-wrote every track and once again worked closely with Carson Chamberlain (producer/co-writer) and as on all my favourite albums it takes your emotions on a rollercoaster ride. Thank goodness for the lighter moments (“Good Times & Tan Lines”, ” Flip Flop”, ” Like I Want You”, “Tightrope“) because , no surprise as it is a country album after all, there are some real good old heartbreakers in the mix!
Let’s start with “Splitsville” which remains my favourite album track, yes it’s a break up song but what an original concept which envisages “the place where people go when they fall out of love”. And then there’s “Livin’ A Lie” ….we’ve all been there I think, putting on a brave face while “dyin’ one day at a time“, and while “When You See Me” is sonically upbeat don’t be fooled, it is actually very cleverly another song about struggling to move on but acting as though things are just fine.
Being a touring musician naturally means spending time away from your loved ones when out on the road, and the album track “South of Sanity” is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard about this age old subject thanks to its added twist ……”when we last talked, she was talkin’ leavin’ ” … yet Zach is still expected to get out on that stage to “sing and play“. It tears me up every time I listen!
But like every great country album there’s also some love songs in the mix too, ok not as many as the heartbreakers, granted, but they prove that things can work out!! “I Know A Place” is a beautiful ballad about leaving all your troubles behind and spending quality time with your partner, while “She Makes” is a song of gratitude to God for creating that special someone with some clever wordplay around the word “makes” within the lyrics … and if you know me then you’ll realise I do appreciate wordplay!!
Gratitude is also at the forefront of ” Between The Ditches” which strikes me as one of the most personal writes on this album, a reflective song about Zachs journey in life with all its twists and turns (there’s some great road analogies). It’s a pretty deep admission that it’s not always been easy to keep to the straight and narrow (“I’ve always been one wrong turn away from going’ to hell“) but thanks to those close to him he is managing!
Just one more tracks to single out for a special mention and that’s “Country Boy Blues“. It’s been a while since I visited Nashville but over the years I have definitely seen it change and this song really hit home as Zach berates what Lower Broadway (or as he refers to it,“the Vegas strip“!) is turning into …. “every spot in town got a drink and a band so why can’t I hear a damn country tune?”.
Whatever your opinion may be about what constitutes country music these days I’m sure there will be no argument that “Ain’t In It For My Health” has both (cowboy boot clad) feet firmly planted within the genre. And with The Grammys introducing a new category for “best traditional country album” next year I’ll put my head on the block and say I wouldn’t be surprised to see Zach’s name in the frame.
Stream/download the album here https://leo33.lnk.to/aintinitformyhealth
