Zac Brown Band – Jekyll + Hyde (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

JEKYLL + HYDE is the Zac Brown Band’s fourth studio album featuring the lead single “Homegrown” which hit #1 on Billboard‘s US Country Airplay chart. “We took more time writing and recording this record than we ever have in the past. We allowed each song to be what it wanted and needed to be. Each song has its own unique identity,” said Zac Brown.

“Homegrown,” the band’s highest chart debut, has earned massive fan support and early praise for its “rock feel” (Country Weekly) and “intricately arranged vocal harmonies” (Billboard); “Dress Blues”, written by Jason Isbell, is a somber and stirring tribute to members of the military who have been killed in service; and “Heavy Is the Head”, which features Chris Cornell, frontman for Soundgarden. The album also features a collaboration with Sara Bareilles.

Nearly three years after Uncaged, which won the Grammy for Best Country Album, the Zac Brown Band unveiled the next chapter in their crossover country revolution. Uncaged was distinguished at least in part by the participation of a variety of guests including Jimmy Buffett, Alan Jackson, Trombone Shorty, Jason Mraz, and Amos Lee. Jekyll + Hyde doesn’t forgo them altogether, but it does have fewer of them. Instead, ZBB double down on their commitment to deliver as many different kinds of songs as they possibly can. Whereas the Jay Joyce-produced first single, “Homegrown,” is characteristic of the band’s feel-good, home-and-heart, back-country groove, it’s not nearly representative of everything that’s here. Opener “Beautiful Drug” may feature a meld of acoustic guitars, banjos, and snare drums, but loops, synths, and a hook straight out of a Katy Perry single govern its flow. “Mango Tree” features Sara Bareilles in a guest performance as it attempts to re-create Nelson Riddle-esque big-band pop swing. It’s followed by the rocker “Heavy Is the Head,” with Soundgarden/Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell in duet with Brown. The metallic guitar is appended by a distorted bassline that comes right from the Geezer Butler playbook. The guest tunes are solid additions, but they’re not the best things here. Those honors are reserved for the band’s self-written tunes: “Remedy” weds country-gospel to a Celtic reel with multi-part vocal harmonies and finally to modern praise & worship; it’s a clear standout. The Caribbean-tinged tunes such as “Loving You Easy,” with its Buffett-esque groove wed to retro pop/soul and “One Day,” with its sweeping yet earthy fiddle, horns, and stirring backing choruses, are both winners, too. “Tomorrow Never Comes” is almost a big-beat dance number with its ticking loops and electronic blips cutting through a bluegrass stomp. It’s bracing in its audacity. Jason Isbell’s poignant “Dress Blues” is more straightforward, wedding folk and pop-country in a poignant lyric about a fallen marine; the arrangement juxtaposes a gently whining pedal steel with an elegiac, languid fiddle. “Junkyard,” a song about child abuse, is a slow, angry country-rocker with fat, muddy basses and guitars, and a Celtic interlude with drum loops that adds drama and tension before the tempo explodes. “I’ll Be Your Man (Song for a Daughter)” is heartfelt, island-tinged folk-country. Its closing chorale is straight out of the Southern church. It should have closed the album, because “Widlfire” feels like filler and an acoustic version of “Tomorrow Never Comes” was unnecessary because it adds to the set’s already unwieldy, hour-plus length. The only other nick is that the set’s production is overly bright. These are niggling complaints, however. The stylistic range of Jekyll + Hyde proves that ZBB’s reach is almost limitless, and this set will more than likely delight the group’s legions of fans. –Thom Jurek

Tracklist:
01. Zac Brown Band – Beautiful Drug (03:11)
02. Zac Brown Band – Loving You Easy (02:35)
03. Zac Brown Band – Remedy (03:51)
04. Zac Brown Band – Homegrown (03:25)
05. Zac Brown Band – Mango Tree (feat. Sara Bareilles) (03:41)
06. Zac Brown Band – Heavy Is the Head (feat. Chris Cornell) (03:59)
07. Zac Brown Band – Bittersweet (05:10)
08. Zac Brown Band – Castaway (03:08)
09. Zac Brown Band – Tomorrow Never Comes (03:58)
10. Zac Brown Band – One Day (03:49)
11. Zac Brown Band – Dress Blues (05:30)
12. Zac Brown Band – Young And Wild (03:14)
13. Zac Brown Band – Junkyard (07:13)
14. Zac Brown Band – I’ll Be Your Man (Song For A Daughter) (05:48)
15. Zac Brown Band – Wildfire (02:46)
16. Zac Brown Band – Tomorrow Never Comes (Acoustic Version) (04:36)

Personnel:
Zac Brown Band:
Zac Brown – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, programming
Coy Bowles – electric guitar, slide guitar, resonator guitar, Hammond organ
Clay Cook – vocals, piano, keyboards, electric guitar, Mellotron, Hammond organ, ukulele, clavinet, pedal steel guitar, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer electric piano, glockenspiel, National guitar
Daniel de los Reyes – percussion
Chris Fryar – drums
John Driskell Hopkins – vocals, baritone guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo, ukulele
Matt Mangano – bass guitar, upright bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Jimmy De Martini – vocals, violin, strings, cello
Additional:
Vinnie Ciesleski – trumpet (track 5)
Donald Dunlavey – electric guitar (track 6)
Béla Fleck – banjo (tracks 9, 13)
Barry Green – trombone (track 5)
Steve Herrmann – trumpet (track 5)
John Hinchey – trumpet (track 5)
Jim Hoke – tenor saxophone (track 5), flute (track 5)
Byron House – upright bass (track 16)
Jewel – vocals (track 11)
Jay Joyce – percussion (track 4), programming (track 4)
Randy Leago – baritone saxophone (track 5)
Mike McGoldrick – Uileann pipes, wooden flute, whistle (track 3)
Niko Moon – vocals (track 1), programming (tracks 3, 13)
Mickey Raphael – harmonica (track 16)
Darrell Scott – acoustic guitar (tracks 3, 16), electric guitar (tracks 3, 6), banjolin (track 3), pedal steel guitar (tracks 6, 16), vocals (tracks 6, 14), “acoustic stringed instrument” (track 14), piano (track 16)
Ben Simonetti – programming (tracks 1, 2, 3, 10, 12), trumpet (track 10)
Choir on “Remedy” and “I’ll Be Your Man”: Darrell Scott, Maureen Murphy, Sarah Dugas, John Cowan, Odessa Settles, Rick Jones, Jason Eskridge