Consumer Guide Album

Bailey Zimmerman: Religiously [Warner Music Nashville/Elektra, 2023]
Lyrics eloquent and tempos moderate, melodies workmanlike and affect heartfelt, this 23-year-old Illinois boy scored several minor country hits before he came up with the one-word hook of dreams. The apparently unbalanced full stanza goes "'Cause I don't have the woman who was there for me/Religiously," and there you have the theme of a whole 16-track album. It could move a little quicker, I guess, but Zimmerman clearly believes his lifetime commitment to colloquial English will have to do until he gets this love thing straight. "Before them plans fell due"? "Gettin' over you feels so wrong"? "That's when I lost it. Midnight in Austin. Damn I'm exhausted"? "Good Lord we had a good long run"? Makes an old guy think, yup, she sounds like a keeper, but I guess it just didn't work out. So keep trying, kid. You really seem to have the stuff. A-