Sophia Michaels
The prolific Zach Bryan is back with new music, this time teaming up with pop wizard Maggie Rogers for an intense duet called “Dawns.” It’s accompanied by a video that was released on Friday morning. Bryan, a Philadelphia resident and massive Eagles fan, promised his fans that if the Eagles beat the Giants last week in the NFL playoffs, he’d release “Dawns.” They did, and he made good.
Penned by Bryan and Rogers, “Dawns” is the story of a relationship measured out in time. Dawns and days are sunk costs of love, as both parties come to understand a little too late. “I get fucked up just ’cause I’m scared/Love’s just another drug I have grown a victim to,” Bryan sings in the early part. It’s refreshingly raw — a siren blares through the opening guitar chords — and Rogers provides a counterpoint verse as the song swells to a full, keening arrangement of cello, drums, and electric guitar.
Last year was nothing short of a whirlwind for Bryan, who rose to stardom on the massive streaming numbers of 2022’s triple album American Heartbreak and its follow-up Summertime Blues. His track “Something in the Orange” earned him his first Grammy nomination for Best Country Solo Performance, though he did not make the Best New Artist category.
Bryan also launched a crusade against live-events giant Ticketmaster in 2022, releasing a live album called All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster late in December. In January, he announced dates for the Burn, Burn, Burn Tour, circumventing Ticketmaster outlets and playing venues with alternative ticketing systems.
Rogers released her second album Surrender in 2022, a group of songs that were inspired by coming out of the isolation of the pandemic. “I really wanted and needed music that could be physical, because it was such a non-physical time,” she told Rolling Stone. “I needed music that had that level of catharsis that I could feel in my collarbones, in my chest.”
