The Owl
Studio album by
Zac Brown Band
ReleasedSeptember 20, 2019 (2019-09-20)
Genre
Length37:39
Label
Producer
Zac Brown Band chronology
Welcome Home
(2017) 		The Owl
(2019) 		The Comeback
(2021)
Singles from The Owl
  1. "Someone I Used to Know"
    Released: November 9, 2018
  2. "Leaving Love Behind"
    Released: January 13, 2020

The Owl is the sixth studio album by American country music band Zac Brown Band. It was released on September 20, 2019, through Wheelhouse Records.

Content

It is described as the band's "most personal album to date". For this album, the band worked with pop and EDM writer and producers such as Poo Bear, Shawn Mendes, Max Martin, Benny Blanco, Ryan Tedder, and Skrillex. One of the tracks features a collaboration with Brandi Carlile.[4][5]

Critical reception

Kelly Dearmore of the blog Sounds Like Nashville gave a largely negative review, criticizing the lack of country sound relative to the band's preceding albums and comparing many songs negatively to Brown's electronica side project Sir Rosevelt.[1] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic also noted parallels to the Sir Rosevelt album. He concluded his review with "The fact that a good chunk of the numbers work does not erase how deeply strange this album is."[6]

Pip Ellwood-Hughes of Entertainment Focus gave a negative review stating, "Zac Brown Band have shown what they can do in the past and this set of songs doesn't come close. If this were the debut album of a new pop band, it may be received kindlier but this is a misjudged project from a beloved Country band that attempts to push boundaries but will likely just turn their fans off."[3]

Commercial performance

The Owl debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 106,000 album-equivalent units, including 99,000 pure album sales. It is Zac Brown Band's sixth US top 10 album.[7] The album has sold 137,100 copies in the United States as of March 2020.[8]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer[9]Length
1."The Woods"
  • Brown
  • Sasha Sirota
3:14
2."Need This"
2:41
3."OMW"
  • Brown
  • Skrillex
  • Poo Bear
  • Sirota
3:20
4."Someone I Used to Know"
  • Watt
  • Happy Perez
3:29
5."Me and the Boys in the Band"
  • Brown
  • Bowles
  • Poo Bear
4:40
6."Finish What We Started" (featuring Brandi Carlile)
  • Poo Bear
  • Martin
3:35
7."God Given"
  • Brown
  • Carlsson
  • Kotecha
  • Svensson
  • Brown
  • Carlsson
  • Martin
2:51
8."Warrior"
  • Brown
  • DeRoberts
  • Alexander Oliver
  • Brown
  • DeRoberts
3:21
9."Shoofly Pie"
  • Tyler Greenwell
  • Chris Wood
  • Oliver Wood
  • Brown
  • DeRoberts
3:37
10."Already on Fire"
  • Brown
  • Carlsson
  • Kotecha
  • Svensson
  • Brown
  • Carlsson
2:57
11."Leaving Love Behind"
  • Brown
  • Bowles
  • Cook
  • Phil Hanseroth
  • Tim Hanseroth
  • Jimmy de Martini
  • Brown
  • Matt Mangano
3:54
Total length:37:39

Personnel

[10] Zac Brown Band

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Album Review: Zac Brown Band's 'The Owl'". Sounds Like Nashville. September 20, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  2. ^ "Zac Brown Band Gets Adventurous on New Album 'The Owl'". Radio.com. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Pip Elwood Hughes. "Zac Brown Band – The Owl album review". Entertainment Focus. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  4. ^ Whitaker, Sterling (July 26, 2019). "Zac Brown Band Reveal Details For Upcoming Sixth Album, 'The Owl'". Taste of Country. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  5. ^ Hudak, Joseph (August 23, 2019). "Hear Zac Brown Band Rap, Roll on New Party Jam 'Need This'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  6. ^ "The Owl". AllMusic. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith (September 29, 2019). "Post Malone's 'Hollywood's Bleeding' Nets Third Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart; Zac Brown Band & Blink-182 Debut at Nos. 2 & 3". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  8. ^ Bjorke, Matt (March 10, 2020). "Top 10 Country Albums Pure Sales Chart: March 9, 2020". RoughStock. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  9. ^ "The Owl credits". istandardproducers.com. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  10. ^ "Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  11. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Zac Brown Band – The Owl". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  12. ^ "On The Charts: September 30, 2019". FYIMusicNews. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  13. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  14. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Zac Brown Band – The Owl". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  15. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  16. ^ "Official Country Artists Albums Chart Top 20". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  17. ^ "Zac Brown Band Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  18. ^ "Zac Brown Band Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  19. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
Categories