Comin’ In Cold – Bailey Zimmerman Written By Jack Humphrey
When Bailey Zimmerman first hit the country music airwaves in 2022, his calling card was a coarse growl to match his shaggy, blue-collar look. At first glance, it didn’t feel like he rolled off the Nashville assembly line, and the bitter edge of his lyrics made it easy to think of Bailey as an angst-ridden small-town kid with a chip on his shoulder. His tastes weren’t sophisticated, but neither were those of his peers across rural America. Heading into his recently announced sophomore LP, a very different Bailey Zimmerman is taking the mic. This character has gotten uncomfortably used to being a household name and doesn’t spend nearly as much time in his feelings. Continuing in the footsteps of “Hell or High Water” and “Holy Smokes,” “Comin’ In Cold” hopes that inverting a popular idiom will give this otherwise flat single a veneer of wit. Unfortunately, one cute turn of phrase at the end of the chorus isn’t enough to break this song out of its sleepy cocoon. Points can be awarded for the twangy, 12-string guitar riff, but from its repetitive hand-claps to Bailey’s lackluster performance, it’s hard to give “Comin’ In Cold” much praise beyond “eh, it’s fine, I guess.”
6.3
Scornful Woman – Oliver Anthony Written By Adam Delahoussaye
After getting grazed by a few self-inflicted snipers in the press and a proclamation that he was “leaving the industry” while still acting as a musician, the viral sensation and discourse lightning rod that is Oliver Anthony has officially re-entered the public consciousness. However, everything about his return feels contrary to the facets of his character that so many fellow weary souls clung to so fervently two years ago. Call it a soft rebrand to denounce “fake” artistry yet personally employ three co-writers to help pen a profoundly personal heartbreak hit. One filled to the brim with nuance, still leaving so many blank spaces and pauses, simultaneously abrupt and overcrowded. Or maybe it’s the mark of a new artistic era to push into more orchestral (and chaotic) spaces that make the modern gothic sound like they’re screeching out of a phonograph. As the track closes, he yowls, “I’d go back to being broke as a joke if I could just get a break from the pain.” It’s maybe his poignant line to date, though shrouded in a litany of contexts and contradictions found elsewhere, it encapsulates his meteoric rise and gradual tumble back to the base of the mountain. It seems whatever direction the bearded bard takes, there’s a perpetual cultural bullet lodged in his foot that may always leave him with a limp. Sonically and thematically, “Scornful Woman” carries many of its narrator’s burdens, visibly succumbing to the already present cracks in its foundation.
5.0
Tailspin – Whiskey Myers Written By Adam Delahoussaye
During the past twenty years, country music has gotten so big and broad in its definition that some acts under the umbrella prefer sneakers to boots or wouldn’t be caught dead in a Stetson. But as rock and roll lost its thunder, their brothers in arms on the other side of the tracks quickly lent them a hand to ally two intrinsically linked cultures rather than prioritize a singular identity. Whatever you want to call the mode of music Whiskey Myers makes, they’ve succeeded in nurturing it back to life. Their newest single, “Tailspin,” is a comforting jolt and return to form, practicing that Skynyrd on steroids sound the group has been perfecting for decades. That starting strum creeps into our peripheral, echoing a mid-stage Kings of Leon and effortlessly ushering us into the manic and muddy existence these guys call homeostasis. It’s an immediate classic in the band’s catalog and another wistful recollection of their swampy soul from days gone by. Guitar licks whine and warble as frontman and songwriter Cody Cannon roars down the funnel of fame, willfully or otherwise. Jay Joyce’s sharp production trims the branches of this wildly grown tree of sounds. Mixing southern songwriting, sticky licks, and trippy distortions between all those gaps, “Tailspin” is an immediately explosive concoction.
7.6
What Hurts Most – Rascal Flatts & the Backstreet Boys Written By Jack Humphrey
It’s always annoying when one of your favorite artists releases a flat single that misses their usual standard. Still, it’s even worse when they go out of their way to bastardize a long-revered staple of their catalog. Between Gary LeVox’s clumsy duet with Akon and this poorly executed collaboration project, Rascal Flatts have made it pretty difficult to get excited about their reemergence in 2025. While most of the record is pretty innocuous and easy to ignore, one release sticks out with noxious potency. When Jeffrey Steele and Stephen Robson first penned “What Hurts Most,“ they surely never imagined it in the hands of a boy band pushing 50 against a skittering, mid-tempo dance beat reminiscent of a 2002 Nelly single. Anguished heartbreak is replaced with plasticky faux-sincerity ripped from the pages of a cheap teenage romance novel. Even the smoldering guitar solo in the bridge feels obnoxious and overly performative with each artist warbling in the background. Nothing about this version pays respect to Flatts‘s original, classic single, and every chance the Backstreet Boys get to sniff around country music continues to be a loathsome net negative for everyone.
2.4
Sweet Lady – Dylan Gossett Written By Jack Humphrey
Though the shadow of Zach Bryan still looms large over most expressive Midwestern singer-songwriters, Dylan Gossett is continuing to separate himself as a genuinely fresh voice who’s just scratching the surface of his inspiration.“Sweet Lady“ channels a bit of 70s folk-pop in the spirit of Eddie Rabbitt, and even Van Morrison, pairing jangly keys with its winsome hook and training Gossett’s rich voice on something unexpectedly peppy. As much as some complain about pop music’s infiltration into country music, cool things are often bound to happen when older influences from outside of the format are grandfathered into the modern country landscape; with that said, “Sweet Lady” isn’t traditionally country in nature, and doesn’t even really fit in the red dirt category, but it’s still undeniably tasteful and fun to listen to. As we inch closer to the release of Westward, Dylan Gossett’s brand of alternative country is steadily taking shape, with a sound that’s every bit as spirited as his earthy, baritone voice.
8.6
Zach Top – Good Times & Tan Lines Written By Will Chapman
Zach Top’s “Good Times & Tan Lines” arrives as one of this summer’s most welcome surprises, marking his first solo release since “Beer For Breakfast”. Despite having only one record out and not releasing anything in almost a year, Top has managed to swiftly become a face of country music with the aid of “I Never Lie.” “Good Times & Tanlines” sees Top continuing to lean into the ’90s sound that’s worked so well for him. It is a breezy, sun-soaked jam in the tradition of “Chattahoochee,” a connection Top leans into musically and aesthetically. The lead guitar riff openly nods to Alan Jackson’s classic, providing an immediate hook of familiarity. Lyrically, the song plays it simple: gravel roads, rope swings, cold beers, and skinny-dipping under the moonlight. However, the strength here is in the delivery. Top’s charm and twang turn well-worn country imagery into something genuinely fun. Zach Top could sing the ABCs, and it would sound better than most country songs being released today. He possesses a swagger like nobody else in the industry, and delivers “Good Times and Tan Lines” in a way that most just can’t.
9.1
Hailey Whitters – White Limousine Written By Joel Reuben Pauley
In her new track from her album Corn Queen, Hailey Whitters experiments with a throwback pop-infused production that actually works quite well, sounding straight out of a vintage vinyl bin. Whitters’s voice can sometimes come across as a bit over-compressed within her more stripped-back country sound, but here it blends seamlessly with a retro-pop production style and a mix that feels punchier all around. The actual meaning of the track is sort of underwhelming, but the way it’s written is refreshing, with the imagery of the “white limousine” painting a vivid picture of the exact kind of night Whitters is trying to portray through her ’70s references. Hailey describes her dream date-night scenario in the song as more than a picnic blanket and red wine. Instead, she depicts a night of driving with the sunroof down in a fashion that feels like she and her lover were “born at the wrong time.” “White Limousine” doesn’t sound much like a typical country release, but it doesn’t seem like that was Hailey’s goal in the first place. With her new album (which literally has “corn” in the title) full of some of the countriest tracks you’ll hear all week, there’s no risk that Whitters will abandon the genre and set her sights on pop music. That said, something upbeat and glossy like this shows Whitters’s versatility in music. Sometimes, the “Corn Queen” needs a little time away from the hoedown.
8.0
