Zach Bryan: “Bowery” [ft. Kings of Leon] Track Review

It’s been a little while since Zach Bryan made a real rocker, something like “Overtime” or “Revival” that’ll make you want to raise a fist and scream along. He hit some climaxes on The Great American Bar Scene—the peaks of “Pink Skies” and “Oak Island,” and later with the emphatic charms of “Blue Jean Baby” and “Boys of Faith”—but the Oklahoman has been more ruminative in recent years, ever-growing as a songwriter who can spin a soft melody with careful attention to detail. So he’s teamed up with one of his all-time favorite bands, Kings of Leon, to rev up the engines.

“Bowery” is a great marriage of Bryan’s gruff passion and Kings of Leon’s reckless abandon. It has the feel of a one-take jam: The Followill boys waste no time launching into the song’s loudest and best parts as Bryan sings of familiar themes—taking in a show in downtown New York, stuck on a woman as the alcohol takes hold. On the triumphant chorus, Bryan goes hush and lets Caleb Followill’s uniquely tender tenor take the lead: “But when the time’s right/I’m a hell of a good night/I’ll make you burn bright/As the heat of the day.” It’s an overdue barn-burner from Zach Bryan, someone who’s excellent at conjuring big feelings even when he might rather bottle them up.