Zach Bryan gets deeply personal on his new album, With Heaven on Top.
The Grammy-winning singer, 29, released his sixth studio album on January 9. Across 25 songs, Bryan reflects on heartbreak, his remarriage to Samantha Leonard, and his journey toward sobriety.
on the track FurBryan appears to reference an ex, singing, “I’m sticking a knife in my own skin/And I’ll never touch yours again” and asking, “Do you love people just to win when it’s all over?”
He also adds, “Do you still talk s**t about all your friends?/This time you need to take it all on the chin, completely sober.”
Fans believe the song points to Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia, whom Bryan split from in October 2024.
LaPaglia later accused him of emotional abuse and claimed he offered her $12 million and a house to remain silent. Bryan has not publicly addressed the allegations.
In plastic cigarettesings about her encounter with someone “evil” in Queens, where the former couple met: “My brother had told me to leave, but I didn’t believe in the evil behind some people you meet in Queens.”
Bryan contrasts that past with songs celebrating Leonard, whom he married in Spain on New Year’s Eve. In back hairstylesings: “When I get to hell or heaven, can I bring my girl?” and praises his love for “romance, good sex, music and ruling the world.”
He also reflects on sobriety and fatherhood. In Appetitehe sings, “Everyone I know grew up / They told my drunk ass to get sober,” adding, “What if I don’t want kids to grow up like their dad?”
Bryan announced in November that he had been sober for two months. He also briefly references his 2023 arrest in the title track: “Spending a night in jail after pissing off a cop.”
With The sky at the top It was written and produced by Bryan in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He begins a world tour in March and will release an acoustic version of the album three days later.
