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Zach Bryan Releases 25-Track ‘With Heaven on Top’ With Barbed Lyrics and Newlywed Odes

The release channels his sobriety and personal upheaval into songs that have revived scrutiny of his breakup with Brianna LaPaglia.

Overview

  • Bryan’s sixth studio album arrived Jan. 9, written, recorded and produced in Oklahoma, and spans 25 songs following 2024’s The Great American Bar Scene.
  • Listeners point to “Skin,” “Plastic Cigarette” and “Slicked Back” as addressing his ex Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia, with lyrics about removing matching tattoos and a Queens meet-up interpreted as references to their past.
  • Several tracks praise his new wife, artist Samantha Leonard, including imagery tied to their Spain wedding and a Pamplona trip referenced in “Runny Eggs.”
  • LaPaglia responded on Instagram by reposting Taylor Swift lyrics seen as mocking the apparent diss tracks, and Bryan has not publicly addressed her prior emotional-abuse allegations.
  • The album also reflects on his sobriety, questions about future fatherhood, and flashes back to his 2023 arrest, with an acoustic edition due in three days and a world tour starting in March in St. Louis.