The second album from the southern soul/country blues rising megastar drops this coming Friday to quite a bit of hype! The guy exploded onto the scene just last year with his critically acclaimed debut, especially when he was just 17 years old(!), so it feels like everyone has been waiting to see if he can follow it up with an equally good release. We got the chance to give it a bit of an early listen so desperately wanted to really sink our teeth in and see what the teenager has put together in barely a year. Let’s dive right in!
The album starts in a perfectly chilled way, with a low guitar melody backed by a simple beat. Ty’s vocals fit perfectly over the top, giving a country twang to the easy-listening pop instrumentation. And, while the track stays more stripped-back and slower, it builds in a few more instruments and definitely has a bigger-feeling chorus. Weirdly, I find myself drawing similarities to the likes of Cardinal Black and even The War & Treaty, that edge of soul and jazz and blues in there alongside the rest of the country, folk and pop. It’s a simple track but a beautiful one, and really sets the tone of the album perfectly!
‘Pedestal’ continues the same vibe perfectly, like a country-infused Newton Faulkner. It follows a similar formula to ‘Morning Comes’, but starting on just guitar and vocals makes it feel even bigger when the drums and the rest of the instrumentation comes in from the first chorus. I loved the little lead guitar licks too, being very bluesy, Ty showing off his incredible skills there, too. And at times his vocals and melodies even remind me more of that 90s alt rock sound, reminding me a little of Hootie & The Blowfish, Staggered Crossing and even Pearl Jam. While a little more relaxed than all those names, I really loved this track, and it easily makes it onto our playlist!
The pace and energy picks up for the bluesy ‘Don’t You Know’, showing off Ty’s range fantastically. Suddenly it’s more like Lenny Kravitz, and I’m fully down! From the great riff that runs through it to his more attitude-filled vocal delivery, the catchy hooks, the harmonies and those amazing horns, it’s all SO GOOD. And while I’d have loved the energy dialled up even 5% more, it’s still a fantastic track, and breaks up the album perfectly early on. It’s a song I am already desperate to see live, so hopefully he’s over I’m the UK soon! It’s maybe my favourite track on the album, and the second in a row that is a huge personal highlight!
‘Message to You’ slows things back down again. It’s certainly not an issue, as it’s a beautiful track in its own right and follows on from one of the more high-energy songs. The lyrics and vocals are bittersweet and packed full of emotion, fitting the tone of the track perfectly. Between it and ‘Woman’, they are the ballad tracks of the album. Both are excellent, slower, acoustic-based songs, and are put at pretty perfect places throughout the album; both feeling like earned emotional moments and helping the flow of the release. More amazing stuff!
The bouncy, bluesy energy returns perfectly with ‘Run Run Run’. Again giving off Kravitz vibes, it also has plenty of southern team and charm to it to cross over into country. It’s infectiously fun, and catchy as anything! It’s another absolutely excellent track that blends so many amazing sounds together like only Ty can do. His vocal style fits this sort of music amazingly too, almost more-so than the slower stuff. It’s also another one that I just HAVE to see live, and soon! And, though short, the guitar solo was also excellent, fitting the track to a tee. The talent on display is really off the charts. Honestly, I can’t get enough of it, and it’s yet another huge highlight on an album seemingly packed full of them!
‘Game Called Love’ is an almost Buffet-flavoured indie-country track, and is one that’s the perfect chilled vibe. It’s built for the beach, regardless of the lyrical content, and as someone who lives in the UK and as far away from the coast there as I can, alongside writing this review during a storm outside, this was absolutely what I needed! The subtle organ at times was a masterstroke, but all the instrumentation in this is so well put together and produced. It’s just a damn fun song, and one that will get even the most stubborn listeners dancing, or at least tapping their foot. I need this album to chill out, I’m starting to sound like a fangirl, aren’t I…?
Songs like ‘Leavin’ Carolina’, ‘Southbound’ and ‘Songs for You’ are more steady tracks like opening couple. All are good songs individually, as well as fitting the tone of the album perfectly. However, they certainly don’t stand out as much as some of the other tracks on the release. However, I honestly wouldn’t cut any of them, they all feel like they have their place here. The latter is probably my favourite of the trio.
‘Come on Over Baby’ is straight up classic blues in the best possible way. From some great acoustic riffing and playing to his New Orleans-drenched vocals and the build up into the massive, jazz-infused choruses, it’s all SO DAMN GOOD. Some of the guitar leads throughout are honestly phenomenal too, fitting the track excellently. The dynamics of the song are amazing, and make for a truly huge, well-earned final chorus. It’s a simple track so fantastically put together that it’s hard not to smile while listening to it. Old-school blues modernised into a 2026 package, and it’s impossible not to love it!
A piano leads ‘Through a Screen’, juxtaposing amazingly with the otherwise guitar-based album. It’s another ballad, but completely different to the others as it’s based much more around classical instruments. The strings swells are amazing, and it all once again builds to something truly magical at its crescendo. Once again, I can only marvel at the sheer talent on display from a writing and production standpoint. And I also love that it slowly strips back more and more to finish, closing out as it opened. Yet another fantastic highlight!
The only track on the album to feature a guest, the incomparable Marcus King does great on blues-funk number ‘Two Trains’. It’s got a great bounce and swagger to it, and both vocals complement each other perfectly. Also, the gospel harmonies through the choruses are fantastic, fitting the song so perfectly. It reminds me a little of mid-late 2000s Kid Rock, back when he wasn’t so cringy. And of course, a healthy dose of Lenny again for good measure. It’s another infectiously fun, really great track, and the fact that it has helped me get this far into the album without any semblance of fatigue is phenomenal.
The final three tracks round out the album excellently. They do feel like ‘Southbound’ et. Al, a little album track-y, but again all are that high quality that it would be a shame if they were cut from the release. The bluesy, almost TC3-like ‘Bad Guy’ is probably the stand-out from the three, but certainly none of them are bad. And ‘Good Morning Paris’ closes things perfectly with a moody folk-Americana sound that surprisingly feels like it brings in elements of most of the other tracks that precede it. And plus, the strings in the back end of it once again give it almost an epic feel to it. It’s a great way to close off, feeling like a true culmination of the last 16 tracks!
Overall: I didn’t know what to expect heading into this, but didn’t expect to love it as much as I did! For how long an album as it is, it is packed to the brim with standout tracks, and doesn’t once feel like it gets old or boring. Ty’s talent for songwriting and playing, across multiple instruments and sub-genres, is off the charts, and for a sophomore album to come out swinging this hard after such a big debut is incredible. If you are at all into any of the many genres this release covers, I cannot recommend checking it out enough. This will be certainly high on our albums of the year list come December, and I’ll be spinning it a lot in the weeks and months to come! The kid has an INSANELY bright future ahead of him!
The Score: 9/10
