“I'm Tryna Slow Down This Year”: Zach Bryan Teases New Unreleased Collaborations with Joshua Slone

Zach Bryan has just given up-and-coming artist, Joshua Slone, another major co-sign, with the Oklahoma megastar sharing a flurry of new acoustic tracks alongside Slone.

It's unclear at this point whether these unreleased offerings are being readied for Slone's forthcoming, long-teased debut album, or whether they'll form part of Bryan's next project.

One of these teasers - which appear to have been recorded off-the-cuff at a random spot outside, with both Zach Bryan and Joshua Slone performing on their acoustic guitars - finds the duo addressing a lover called Madeline. It's a snippet we've heard from Bryan before, which suggests he is the lead vocalist on this one.

Across the intricate, undulating instrumental, Bryan and Slone croon wistfully as they paint a nostalgic portrait of heartbreak, “There’s a picture of us holding up a pitcher of our favorite beer / I’m tryna slow down this year, they can’t hold it like we used to”.

Another track, seemingly titled ‘In Dreams’, is more uptempo, with Zach Bryan and Joshua Slone crafting a striking vignette of a sun-soaked road trip to the West Coast (“The wind on all them blowing palm trees / The shaking bodies, under Napalm skies”).

Napalm skies - an image that's been employed on a variety of other songs, such as Billie Eilish's enchanting 2017 hit, ‘Ocean Eyes’ - refers to a vivid, violent orange sunset, creating a similar visual effect to the aftermath of a Napalm bomb explosion.

The third song teaser, ‘Bowery’, is another heartbreak anthem, with Bryan and Slone's guttural vocals again combining seamlessly to give the track a jaded, yearning feel.

They recall an encounter at ‘the Bowery’, a New York district associated with cheap bars, “She was sittin’ next to me, last night at the Bowery / Sick to her stomach as she sipped gin and tonic / Tellin’ me she'd rather be dead than sleep alone”. It's one to add to Zach Bryan's burgeoning collection of songs inspired by the Big Apple.

With Joshua Slone due to support Zach Bryan at his Michigan Stadium show - the colossal venue's first ever concert - we suspect they might be gearing up to drop at least one of these duets before that blockbuster event, which takes place on September 27th.

Slone is quickly establishing himself as one of country-folk's rising stars, with the Kentucky artist amassing a loyal following online courtesy of his stripped-back song snippets.

The Salyersville prodigy is currently working on his debut album, so some of these newly unveiled tracks might be intended for that project. However, with Zach Bryan continuing to hone his With Heaven On Top EP and his next studio record, Motorbreath, we suspect these songs will most likely be spread across those projects. Bryan certainly appears to be the main artist in these new videos, particularly bearing in mind the fact that he teased ‘Madeline’ as a solo track earlier this month.

For more on Zach Bryan, see below: