Blackberry Smoke - Be Right Here

There are few bands out there at the moment that can write a compelling record about “seizing the day” quite like Blackberry Smoke.

Around the time the Southern rock purveyors began recording their latest studio album, the band’s beloved drummer Brit Turner was diagnosed with a brain tumor. What was born from this moment of both creation and concern was Be Right Here, a release urging us – and themselves – to do as the title suggests.

The album’s ten tracks are built on such sentiment, each offering meaningful takeaways for a full and fearless life. Whether they be c’est la vie serenades or anthems to grab life by the fistfuls, the songs feel urgent, like we’ll be worse off if we don’t heed them sooner than later. From the mix of anthems, ballads and jams, mere songs like the heart-pounding ‘Dig A Hole’ and thundering ‘Hammer And The Nail’ transform into powerful parables about the paths you take and the choices you make. Tunes like the slow and sultry ‘Whatcha Know Good’ and the gospel-tinged ‘Little Bit Crazy’, meanwhile, become indelible proverbs.

While the songs are all intertwined by a similar message, some hit harder than others. The album lulls midway with the mundane ‘Be So Lucky’ and the saccharine ‘Azalea’. The over-sentimentality of the latter is especially noticeable when sandwiched between album highlights like the spirited ‘Like It Was Yesterday’ and the assertive ‘Don’t Mind If I Do’.

Be Right Here is a feel-good, easy-going collection made all the more replayable by Blackberry Smoke’s undeniable skill and magnetic wisdom. Sharing lessons on silver linings and the unavoidable passing of time, Be Right Here urges us to be present in the moment.

7.5/10

Blackberry Smoke’s 2024 album, Be Right Here, is available February 16 via 3 Legged Records/Thirty Tigers.

For more on Blackberry Smoke, see below: