Zach Bryan wins big but at a deflating cost.
Recently, the 'Something in the Orange' singer/songwriter reacts on X (formerly known as Twitter) about his single 'Pink Skies' reaching pop radio. Spoiler: he's not exactly thrilled at the labeling. "This is fucked, I never approved this, why is Pink Skies at Pop radio," he says.
The next day, those in charge correct the issue, showing that it was a phrasing issue on where it should be marketed. Bryan seems like he's moving with a cooler head. He responds, "Sorry for cursing so much earlier. It was a misunderstanding and I've been watching too much House of Cards on my time off let's goOOO CALIFORNIA."
Why It's Easy to Understand Zach Bryan's Frustration
I definitely understand where he's coming from, though. We're living in an ambiguous time where genre labels hardly mean anything. Oftentimes, the industry lazily patches you into a bubble for the sake of easy branding. Even if you come up in a specific sub-genre with its own distinct history, you're still just in a broad category for the sake of cataloging. It blatantly disregards artistic intent and a lineage of artists, simply because it takes more work.
Moreover, artists also loiter in genres when they make music that doesn't fit the description. This happens a LOT in country music. Not to sounds so traditionalist, but there's an abundance of artists masquerading in the genre. The instrumentation can play incredibly synthetic. In reality, they're only 'country' because of the twang in their voice. The instrumentation can play incredibly synthetic.
We should happily encourage people like Zach Bryan to break the boundaries of what country is and can be. We miss out on a lot of great art by keeping people in a bubble. But it should never reach the point where it's unrecognizable. That's the great thing about sub-genres. You can easily trace it back to its root origins.
This all goes without mentioning that the framing of 'Pink Skies' makes no sense under the pop umbrella. The structure of the record suggests something a bit more tender and intricate than the format of a great pop song. Zach Bryan's attention to detail often scrapes against the glossy sheen that circles the brain for days at a time.
Additionally, I don't know too many pop songs writing about funerals and family dynamics. It's important to note that it's not auto-biographical either. He emphasizes on X again, "Pink Skies wasn't inspired by my story. Every time I sing about someone dying people assume it's about my mom, this definitely was not. I just think all the dynamics in families are beautiful and interesting and generationally it's a really cool thing."
