Just last week, I wrote a column prescribing a new litmus test for whether a song or an artist should be included in country music. Rather than speculating over some abstract notion of “is it country?”, a far more productive question could be, “Is it good for country music?” More specifically, does it raise the standard of quality that new and established artists alike aspire to?
Mere hours later, a young man with an acoustic guitar set the country music internet ablaze, seemingly arriving as an ideal case study to my premise.
So far, Joshua Slone does not self-identify as a country artist. Still, his blunt, rootsy sound, rustic, backwoods aesthetic, and cutting knack for letting you in on his inner monologue make him good company with those enigmatic alt-country anti-heroes that have defined the format’s modern youth movement. You know, the “Zacholytes,” like Sam Barber, Evan Honer, Waylon Wyatt, Wyatt Flores.
While he doesn’t spend much time homaging his hometown or seem very interested in assimilating with mainstream country music, Joshua Slone brings something much more valuable to the table: a caliber of introspective songwriting that should put the entire Nashville writing community on notice. Like Zach Bryan before him, this is an expressive young guy who puts his rambling, confused feelings straight to paper without silly double entendres or quips. Simply put, it’s what country music needs more of.
Musically, his debut LP Thinking Too Much carves out an interesting cross-section between the Zach/Sam Barber singer-songwriter style and swaying pop-rock you might find on an Old Dominion record (trust me, this is a compliment!).
Clocking in at 66 minutes, this is a fairly long record, and probably a bit longer than it needed to be, but every track feels pure and thoughtful in its own way. Melancholy is a very comfortable emotion for Slone, and he has no shortage of unique narratives through which to express himself. In just the first four tracks, he wrestles with his insecurities over satisfying his lover (Wanting More), pines for a long-distance girlfriend as she drives away (Adeline), and feverishly wonders if a crush feels as strongly about him as he does her (Anna).
Longing and sincerity are the name of Joshua’s game. As the title implies, he spends a lot of time in his own head, and in his art, leans into his insecurities in a genuine way that doesn’t feel the slightest bit kitschy or attention-hungry. Ironically, his lost loneliness reaches something deeply universal and easy to latch onto. Joshua Slone deftly depicts his fervor for the bliss of romantic connection, and is rarely afraid to lay all on the line with an earnest confession; the sweet one-two punch of “I Am Yours, You Are Mine” and “Demons” makes this abundantly clear.
Armed with his trusty Martin, Slone mostly stays in his lo-fi folk-pop lane, with little tempo variance overall. The record is heavy on substance, and Slone’s wistful musings are more than enough to keep you interested.
It’s obvious that Joshua Slone knows his way around a hook, but getting his thoughts to paper took priority over ordering them around a particular melody. Every so often, you wish there was more tempo, because Slone can clearly cut loose when he feels like it. The closest we get is the Benny Blanco-assisted “Shark Attack,” which offers a peppy folk-pop groove, muted alt-rock drums, and a shimmery keyboard riff.
Even without many true pop songs, Thinking Too Much achieves the golden ratio of songs that are fun to listen to and still challenge you to pay attention as a listener. Even though cuts like “Disappear” and the aforementioned “Anna” don’t exactly qualify as “bops,” there’s a soft poppiness to these tracks that keeps the record from feeling too dusty or under-produced.
While Thinking Too Much is littered with different narratives about (presumably) different missed connections, the uncompromising through-line is Joshua Slone’s dogged pursuit of real companionship; he’s a likable protagonist, willing to give himself completely to a girl who wants to do the same, sometimes a bit too quickly (Last Night I Realized I’m In Love With You). More than any other new artist to come out in recent memory, it’s all too easy to put yourself in his shoes on nearly every song.
In a lot of ways, Thinking Too Much epitomizes the moment we’re living in in country music; it’s eager to wear its feelings openly, and though it’s not extraverted, it’s extremely self-assured and confident in who it is. More than likely, Joshua Slone listens to more Noah Kahan than Garth Brooks, but the impression he’s made on country music in less than a week is undeniable. With seemingly all of your favorite country singers sharing their zeal for his record on Instagram, this young Kentuckian is an opportunity for every artist worth their salt to question whether they’re going through the motions in the writers’ room or bringing something honest and personal to the table.
For the rest of 2025, Joshua Slone is the standard, and whatever his future holds in or out of country music, Thinking Too Much deserves all the attention it’s received so far.
