After experimenting with electronic, reggae and big band on its 2015 album Jekyll + Hyde, country band Zac Brown Band has returned to its roots with an aptly-titled new album, Welcome Home.
While I personally enjoyed the eclectic Jekyll + Hyde, perhaps there was concern that the band may have strayed too far from country music territory in favour of a more pop, commercial sound.
The 10-track Welcome Home is an effort to diminish those worries. Musically, it is chock-full of both traditional and contemporary country sounds.
There’s also a sense of wholesomeness in the album’s overall themes. Lyrically, the band harps on the importance of home and family. 2 Places At 1 Time talks about feeling torn between wanting to travel the world and coming home.
The song Roots is about never forgetting your origins even when you’re far away from home.
Meanwhile, Family Table highlights the simple but meaningful gesture of having a meal together as a family and My Old Man is a beautiful tribute to fathers and father figures.
Loaded with traditional values and traditional sounds, Zac Brown Band’s Welcome Home serves to remind fans it’s still very much a country band.
Zac Brown Band
Zac Brown Band
Welcome Home
Warner Music
