Ain’t In It For My Health is finally here.
Zach Top‘s highly anticipated sophomore record is finally gifted to fans, laying down 15 songs of classic country gold. After the release of his debut record, Cold Beer & Country Music, Zach Top solidified that he was reviving the classic country sounds of the ’90s, arguably one of the best decades for country music. If nothing else, one of the most nostalgic for a wide spectrum of country music fans.
While Zach Top shared that he was honored to head the movement of reviving the classic sound, he was not attempting to be the “’90s gimmick” guy.
“There was never any calculated decision to be like, Hey, you know what? It’s the ’90s thing. It’s just, when I write and sing and play, this is what comes out of me. I’m obviously very heavily influenced by that stuff, but in all my time being a student of the music and digging back, I went way further back from the ’90s, you know. It was Merle, George Jones, Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, back to the ’40s and ’50s.”
He shared with the New York Times.
Regardless of what his goal was, the sound that the former bluegrass picker and famed producer/veteran neo-traditionalist Carson Chamberlain created on Cold Beer & Country Music punched country fans in the face (in the best way) and skyrocketed Zach Top to a new echelon of stardom. And he ain’t leaving anytime soon.
The ACM New Male Artist of the Year wanted that statement that he’s here to stay to resonate with fans with the release of his sophomore record, sharing with Dierks Bentley, the album’s title resonated with him in that way:
“It’s kind of got a deeper meaning to me, where it’s like sort of a ‘I’m here to stay’ type of thing. It wasn’t a one-hit-wonder thing. The first album, people liked that and whatnot, but I’m here to stay, and it’s not whatever. I ain’t in it for my health.”
Ain’t In it For My Health screams that he is here to stay.
The 15-track record highlights the fun side of Top on some previously released or teased singles like “Good Times & Tan Lines” and “Flip–Flop,” incorporating some Jimmy Buffett flair. However, the rest of the album has a gloomy, overcast feel, creating a list of sad country songs that make us feel so very happy.
From songs like “Splitsville,” which highlights the dark place that a man goes after his woman leaves him, and feels like an expansion of Joe Nichols’ “Brokenheartsville,” to “Livin’ A Lie,” where the narrator is telling himself he’s okay, but really he’s dying inside from heartbreak.
While there are quite a few melancholy ballads featured on the record, Top balances them out with love songs like “I Know A Place,” where the narrator is hoping that he can get his lady to sneak off somewhere private with him to reconnect, or “She Makes,” which is a heartfelt love song thanking God for placing the perfect woman in his life:
“She makes a Monday feel like Friday night
She makes the winter feel like spring
She makes this complicated world make sense
And she makes this country boy feel like a king
Hey, thanks again for all your mighty fine work
Lord, you outdone yourself when you made her…”
The cohesive tracklist of Ain’t In It For My Health takes listeners on a journey of boot-stomping twangers, classic country heartbreakers, and tender love songs… it’s the trifecta, and Zach does it better than just about anybody in the business.
Zach Top is here to stay, and Ain’t In It For My Health proves that he’s in it for the long haul. Here’s a few early favorites:
“Splitsville”
“Between The Ditches”
“She Makes”
