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NEED TO KNOW
Zach Bryan released his new album With Heaven on Top on Jan. 9
The musician's lyrics seem to address his relationships with ex-girlfriend Brianna "Chickenfry" LaPaglia and wife Samantha Leonard
The album also references his sobriety and his indecision as to whether he wants to become a father
Zach Bryanisn't holding back on his new albumWith Heaven on Top.
The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, 29, released his sixth studio album on Friday, Jan. 9 — and over the course of 25 songs, seemingly shed new light on his feelings toward ex-girlfriendBrianna "Chickenfry" LaPaglia, life with hisnew wife Samantha Leonardand his decision to get sober late last year.
On the song "Skin," Bryan takes aim at an ex, promising to take "a blade to my old tattoos" in order to drain "the blood between me and you."
"I'm taking a blade to my own skin/And I ain't ever touching yours again,"he sings. "How do tattoos take to your skin? Does your higher ground ever sink in? Do you love people just to win when it's over?"
Bryan also slams his ex for talking poorly about her friends with the lyrics, "Do you still talk s--- on all of your friends?/Need to take it all to the chin this time stone-cold sober."
It's likely the song is a reference to LaPaglia, 26, from whom Bryanannounced his splitin October 2024. The podcast host has Bryan's lyrics from the song "28" tattooed on the back of her arm. The two broke up under acrimonious circumstances, as she lateraccused the musician of emotional abuse, and claimed that he offered her $12 million and a house to not speak publicly about their relationship.
WARNER RECORDS
Bryan has not addressed LaPaglia's claims, though he seemed to make his feelings clear on the new song "Plastic Cigarette." In the song, Bryan sings about meeting someone "evil" in Queens, New York; the singer and LaPaglia began their romance in June 2023 after she attended his concert at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.
"You were collecting shells out on the bay shore, you know I was a shell before/Deep in the hands of another/My brother had told me to leave but I didn't believe the evil beneath some people you meet out in Queens," he sings.
The song "Slicked Back" also contains an apparent reference to LaPaglia, who has made her career as a social media personality and shares much of her life with her fans online.
"Used to know some folks who put it all online but you paint landscapes in the evening time," he sings in a nod to wife Leonard, 28, whose paintings Bryan has previously shared on Instagram.
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Elsewhere, the star sings more positively about Leonard, whom hemarried in Spain on New Year's Eveafter several months of dating.
On the song "Runny Eggs," he sings about booking a flight to Pamplona to "find a lady with some big old Spanish eyes." He and Leonard attended the famous Running of the Bulls in Pamplona together in July, and later tied the knot in the country.
The rest of "Slicked Back" is an ode to his new bride, with a chorus that says, "You're so cool in my living room/And when you talk trash with your hair slicked back/When I get to hell or heaven, can I bring my girl?/'Cause she likes romance, good sex, music and ruling the world."
"Camper" may also be about Leonard, as Bryan sings about his "California baby," wondering "why she'd ever want to call that cowboy mine." Leonard is from California.
In addition to songs about romances past and present, Bryan also grapples with other aspects of his personal life onWith Heaven on Top, including whether he wants to one day become a father.
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"Everyone I know got older/Told my drunk ass to get sober, settle down and have some kids/Be content with all of this/What if I don't want children that grow up like their father, willing to stir s--- up and start a fight?" he sings on "Appetite."
The line is also a nod to his sobriety, as Bryan announced in November that he wastwo months soberafter working through his "toxic relationship with booze" with the help of a therapist.
Bryan also snuck in a brief nod to his2023 run-in with the lawon the title track, singing, "Wanna fight and cry, wanna fall in love/Scrap and claw for what we're dreaming of/Spend a night in jail after pissing off a cop."
Bryan was arrested in Oklahoma in September 2023 for interfering with a traffic stop on his security guard, who was speeding.
With Heaven on Topwas written, record and produced by Bryan over the last several months in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He's set to take the album on a lengthy world tour starting in St. Louis in March.
The singer also announced that he'll be releasing an acoustic version of the record three days after the album's release.
Read the original article onPeople
