When Brothers Osborne released their third studio album "Skeletons" almost exactly 3 years ago (on October 9, 2020), hardly anyone was aware of how many personal issues were hiding beneath the surface. In retrospect, the skeletons in the closet of the title song may have served as an anticipation of TJ Osborne's coming out, which was made public some 6 months later, we he sings in the first verse of the song: [it's] high time to come to Jesus.
It's understandably such a difficult topic that it gets further explained on the deluxe version of the project, which includes new song 'Younger Me'. It stands for encouragement to a younger self, but at the same time describes the uncertainty and insecurity associated with it. The lyrics do this so well that any difficult youth is able to identify with it and not just the specific topic of sexual orientation.
hanging out but not quite fitting in.
Didn't know that being different
really wouldn't be the end.
At the same time, a song like 'I'm Not For Everyone' emphasized how
different the country-rock duo from the US East Coast actually is:
when I'm better off biting my tongue.
I'm a bad joke at the wrong time.
Hell, I'm a legend in my own mind,
I'm good for some but I'm not for everyone.
A differentness that pushes the brothers musically away from the mainstream and has so far only given them one top 10 hit ('Stay A Little Longer', 2015). But they don't let that deter them, like when they emphasize with massive rock guitars on 'Headstone' on the deluxe version of "Skeletons" that this won't change either: when I'm dead and gone, write that on my headstone!
So it should not come as a surprise that the duo brought
Mike Elizondo as the producer for their fourth studio album - which is
simply titled "Brothers Osborne" and was released on September 15, 2023 - into
the studio. To date Mike Elizondo is only known outside of country music as a
songwriter and producer through his collaborations with Dr. Dre,
Eminem, 50-Cent, Twenty-One Pilots, Maroon-5,
Pink, Eric Clapton and others. However since he has been living
in Nashville for a little over 10 years by now, it's not that unexpected that he eventually shows up as producer for a country project.
"John’s guitar playing has always kept the band’s music rooted firmly in rock & roll, but Brothers Osborne expands the palette, with piano, synths, and drum machines," the new project is described by Jeff Gage of rollingstone.com. "The siblings were willing to follow Elizondo down any creative alley, no matter how foreign."
"There was never a moment where he suggested something and we shied away, because that’s not the point. The point is, the studio is the place to try everything," John Osborne says. "We felt like we could almost get away with murder on this record."
It was also a new experience for Mike Elizondo. "Working on music with them was unlike anything I’ve done before. We had the amazing advantage in that they walked in with just a ton of great songs," he stressed in an interview with udiscovermusic.com.
Nevertheless, the producer also contributed as a songwriter to 2 of the 11
tracks on the new album. Among them the first and current single 'Nobody's Nobody', which has just reached the Top-30 of the Radio (Billboard Country Airplay) Charts.
Songwriter Marvel Kendell initially came up with the idea for the title, but it sounded like a sad theme to him. TJ Osborne, however, objected: "I didn’t hear it that way at all. I actually heard it as, '[If] nobody's nobody, [then] everybody is somebody.' And then they were like, 'Oh s–t, OK.'"
a sinner, saint, or son of a gun,
nobody's nobody.
However when it comes to the musical production Mike Elizondo comes to the forefront for good. "The track is built on a pulsing Wurlitzer piano figure that sounds a tad like a synthesizer," Tom Roland of billboard.com describes the sound. "That element could have easily fit back in the day alongside Pet Shop Boys' 'West End Girls,' Level 42's 'Something About You' and The Rolling Stones' 'Harlem Shuffle.' The Osbornes' vocals, however, are decidedly 2023 country, creating a fresh sonic juxtaposition."
For a brief moment, 'Love You Too' musically also sounds a little traditional. But the song
not only surprises with a sparkling electric guitar during the second half of
it, but also with its theme, which gets belied by its title:
and I got all kinds of room.
But I ain't got time to mind what the haters do.
Hate on me, love you too.
Miranda Lambert co-wrote the midtempo 'We Ain't Good At Beaking Up' and can also be heard in the background. While this song is about the inability to end a relationship, the light funk of 'Goodbye's Kickin' In' brings the realization that the end of it is near. Incidentally, it is the only song on the project that does not carry a positive or self-confident theme.
That's why the only quiet moment of the project comes with the very last song.
It is the beautiful piano ballad 'Rollercoaster (Forever And A Day)' which not only accepts the ups and downs of a relationship, but also
understands it as an indispensable part of life.
when I am autumn, you are spring.
When I'm high and dry, you're my drop of rain,
sometimes fallin', sometimes flyin'.
But in spite of everythin',
I could ride this rollercoaster for forever and a day.
The attentive observer will have noticed that on the cover of the previously released songs, the duo can only be seen from behind. With the complete album, the brothers can now also be seen from the front on the cover, albeit without any lettering. "For the first time, John and I are freely ourselves in every way," TJ Osborne summarizes the project on gardenandgun.com. "To expand on that and lean into it more than ever, it made sense to self-title the album because I feel like it’s the first time we’ve really been open."
Brothers Osborne remain true to their chosen path with their new project, keeping their distance to the very mainstream center of the genre. The consequence of which they have to bear by continuing to make a living primarily from pure sales of concert tickets and albums, and not so much from chart success. But as the lyrics in 'Nobody's Nobody' go:
some go down in a blaze of glory.
Some people never ever make a name,
but change the game in someone's story.
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