Having the album of the month choice in January is always a tricky scenario. In past years we’ve opted instead for flashbacks to albums we may have missed in recent months or all time classics we wanted to chat about instead of the dried up release schedule that January usual provides. Differing from previous years, 2026 has already shown some early green shoots (IDK, Dry Cleaning and A$AP ROCKY), especially my choice for album of the month, Zach Bryan’s With Heaven On Top. Heavily anticipated for many this will be a new artist for the majority of us. Whilst he is a new name to This Is Not Happening, Bryan has swiftly become one of the fastest growing artists globally.
Personally, I’m not going into this blind. I’m a fan. But only for a matter of months. He hit my radar last summer (2025) when a friend mentioned that he had seen Bryan play at Hyde Park the previous weekend. I’d never heard of him? He explained Zach Bryan was a country artist that had just played two sold out shows to over 65,000 people a night in London. Although I was hesitant due to the dreaded ‘C’ word, I was curious about this Zach Bryan guy. He must have something about him to sell out two massive shows in London. London and the wider UK haven’t traditionally clicked with US country stars. I’d explain Zach Bryan’s sound (to my relief and happiness) as americana drenched folk with a dusting of country that naturally comes with being a product of his environment.
Bryan was born in Yokosuka, Japan, where his parents were stationed as part of a U.S. Navy deployment. When Bryan was in the eighth grade, his family moved to Oologah, Oklahoma. Continuing a family tradition, Bryan was an active-duty member of the United States Navy for eight years, enlisting at the age of 17. Whilst in the Navy, he used his spare time to write songs, eventually posting them on YouTube to nominal success. His breakthrough came when his track Heading South went viral (to date it has gained 34m streams). Ahead of leaving the services he released two independent albums ahead of leaving the Navy and signing to Warner music. Ahead of With Heaven On Top He has released 3 albums on Warner with multiple number 1’s. His singles ‘I Remember Everything’ and Something in Orange’ have both had over 1 billion Spotify streams, with way more in the plus 100m streams.
With expectations high, and knowing I’m putting my neck on the line for an artist that undoubtably will be marmite for the other three I’ve decided to double down on Zach Bryan. Early reviews for With Heaven On Top are mixed. This may not be the best album to intro an artist with.. plus it’s long (most of his albums are)… but it’s jammed packed with stories, emotion and big sounds that are not to be sniffed at.
Being mindful that this should be an album intro and not a review here are some key points from me:
- I think this album in every way is very accomplished and polished yet raw. He very much seem like a guy that you could start chatting to sitting at a bar somewhere.
- Bryan’s extensive touring and large audiences undoubtably have had an influence on tracks like Appetite, Say Why and Anyways. They will all sound brilliant and will have crowds singing along (vocal solos and large crowd claps a-go-go).
- Songs like Slicked Back are simplified perfection and remind me of the lyrical masterstrokes that the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan were made household names by.
- Although many try; nobody can nail the sound of Americana you’re from North America (IMO). Moving from a sound and a twang to painting a picture is the hard part. Bryan has a lovely way with words and storytelling. DeAnne’s Denum, Plastic Cigarette, Cannonball and You Can Still Come Home take you to the place of their reactive songs with ease.
- Globally (and internally) there’s a lot of confusion and pain about the current state of the United States is in. Bryan gives you a taste of the America that many of us (even if secretly) all romance over in our minds. Open skies, country roads and dreams. It’s nice to remember this. He also faces into the state of the nation on Bad News. A song that has split his fans, though it feels like he’s arguing on both sides of opinion.
On paper Zach Bryan should tick all the boxes for all of us. His Americana drenched folk nicely sits centre in our combined music vin-diagram.. BUT for at least 2/4 of us there is going to be some walls that need to be broken to fully embrace this album.
At time of writing this, he has done limited PR for the album, has yet to release a music video yet the album has entered the US Billboard chart at number one and the UK charts at number 3. He has also released an acoustic version of the album to silence the fans and cretics that have previously stated that they miss the Zach Bryan of old; just a dude, a guitar and some packet full of great songs.
3 weeks into the album I’m still learning it. I’m still understanding it. I’m still intrigued by it. I think it’s a lovely piece of work and I hope you do to.
thisisnothappening.net 
I have a lot of thoughts … I’m gonna have to revert to Joey-Bullets;
This is a great and brave call for the AOTM brother Nolan. You come in knowing there’s at least one, likely two of us that it may not work for. And I am one of those.
And I don’t love it, cards on the table. Parts of it pass me by. It’s overly long. But for as much of it that I don’t seem to connect with, there are parts that have really grown on me. And there are songs I have a real soft spot for. This is not something I would’ve expected when I got to hear it for the first time a few weeks back.
When I first laid ears on a totally new artist I was struck – nods at Joey – that it felt very American. Almost too much so for me. Can I put my finger on why? No, not really. It’s very adjacent to many other things I loved – Bon Iver, Kevin Morby, Waxahatchee, Boygenius, Lucy Dacus….. – and yet, some things grated.
I think the vocals have been the biggest thing. I get the real ‘gruff American guy, singing about American stuff’ voice, and that really connects but I’ve struggled with that. It’s imperfect, which I love with others, but there are bits where he’s struggling to hit a note in tune, and I guess if you are struggling these are the things that jar, and not make you get the hooks in (see also: Saya Grey).
So, I had real concerns I’d ever connect with it much, at all.
It’s strange though, because bit by bit, it did start to settle on me. But the big problem was the length. I rarely have an uninterrupted hour to listen to anything. I don’t train long enough. I don’t commute long enough, I don’t drive long enough, I don’t get to walk that far. I get to shop for that, so I try that.
It starts with a poem. I like it when it’s Arlo Parks, but I couldn’t get on board with this one. But then I think the first half of the album (which could be an album in itself) I think takes too long to get going and is surpassed by the second half, by some way. And after a while, where the whole album in one go just seemed to blur, once I started to find the songs I liked, I started to lose the ones I didn’t, and out of the mist came a really lovely 15 track, 48 minute record.
This is below, my version of With Heaven On Top. Perhaps, Half Of Heaven On Top:
Runny Eggs
Appetite
Drowning
Skin
Bad News
South And Pine
Anyways
Plastic Cigarette
You Can Still Come Home
Always Willin’
Miles
All Good Things Past
Camper
Sundown Girls
With Heaven On Top
It’s basically 8 of the last 9 songs, and only 7 of the first 16. I’m not sure what that says about me. But here we are.
A few bullets too:
This is a really good choice. We need albums that shake things up.