He did over a billion streams on Spotify last year, and American Heartbreak was just a big slow-burning hit. He was already big last year, and then the new album has blown him up even more.
just kinda getting into this fella and man i am loving it all. working my way through american heartbreak yesterday and this morning. hitting perfectly.
I feel like you have no idea who this dude is if you expected him to come out full force against cops lol.
I first realized how big he was when he played the Windy City Smokeout last year at like 5 pm on a Thursday and it was the first day to sell out & had unaffordable resale with Willie Nelson headlining
Someone on Reddit apparently did a FOI request and got the arrest report. Some pretty great quotes in there ".. fucking cops are out of control" "I'll go to jail, let's do it " when told to get back in his truck. "You boys need checked, a bunch of fucking middle age white dudes arresting people " Some other gems in there as well, honestly good for him , wish he didn't have to do the PR apology after but you know it's due to most of his audience being who they are. But all in all good shit.
Vinita is a piece of shit town just off the turnpike where the economy is supported by the nearby prison. Not surprised at all.
Listening to the live album for the first time and hot damn. Absolutely furious I didn’t see him in Cleveland in June.
I looked at tickets this time around but it is not in the cards - I am definitely priced out. Happy for him, sad for me.
Curious what's not clicking for you? Doesn't feel like a huge departure for me. What I liked on the last one is pretty much what I like about this one.
My hot take is the songs with features are close to being the 4 weakest songs on the record. (“Spotless” is maybe my least favorite of his period)
I like Hey Driver. I really don't think the album has a weak song, but I also don't think the album is meant to be seen as anything but a whole, even if it had weak tracks?