Zach Bryan gets deeply personal on his new album, With Heaven on Top.
The Grammy-winning singer, 29, released his sixth studio album on January 9. Across 25 songs, Bryan reflects on his heartbreak, his new marriage to Samantha Leonard and his journey to sobriety.
On the track SkinBryan appears to be referencing an ex, singing, “I’ll take a blade through my skin/And I’ll never touch yours again” and asking, “Do you love people just to win when it’s over?”
He also adds, “Are you still talking shit to all your friends?/Need to take it all on the chin this time, stone cold sober.”
Fans believe the song refers to Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia, who Bryan split from in October 2024.
LaPaglia later accused him of emotional abuse and claimed he offered her $12 million and a house to stay silent. Bryan has not publicly responded to the allegations.
On Plastic cigarettehe sings about meeting someone “bad” in Queens, where the former couple first met: “My brother told me to leave but I didn’t believe in the evil behind some of the people you meet in Queens. »
Bryan contrasts this past with songs celebrating Leonard, whom he married in Spain on New Year’s Eve. Smoothed backhe sings: “When I get to hell or heaven, can I bring my girl? and praises her love of “romance, good sex, music and the direction of the world.”
He also reflects on sobriety and fatherhood. On Appetitehe sings, “Everybody I know got older/I told my drunk ass to get sober,” adding, “What if I don’t want kids to grow up like their dad?”
Bryan announced in November that he was two months sober. He also briefly references his 2023 arrest on the title track: “Spending a night in jail after pissing off a cop.”
With Heaven at the top was written and produced by Bryan in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He begins a world tour in March and will release an acoustic version of the album three days later.
