Jordan Davis: ‘Bluebird Days’ – Album Review

Jordan Davis’ new album, Bluebird Days is out now, February 17th on all streaming platforms. Listen to the new album below.

“This is exactly the record I want to put out,” Jordan Davis says of his new album, Bluebird Days. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with it, but I can at least tell you that the one certainty I do have about this record is I’m proud of it.”

Produced by Paul Giovanni, the follow-up to 2018’s Home State features seventeen new tracks, fifteen of which were co-written by the singer-songwriter. Over the course of the album, Davis explores universal truths from love to love lost, nostalgia to the passage of time, and the hard truths of life to of course, having a beer or two. However, what Davis does better than most is turn these themes into a mix of radio-ready singles, introspective album tracks, and so much more.

For example, the contemplative “Sunday Saints” finds him grappling with his humanity, holding the Bible in one hand and a bottle in the other. The Louisiana native cleverly sneaks in double wordplay and perhaps a nod to the New Orleans Saints throughout the track. Simultaneously, the autobiographical title track has him dealing with his parent’s divorce. Likewise, “Short Fuse” has Davis coming to grips with his anger, while “You’ve Got My Number” finds Davis going through a breakup with someone who knows him all too well. It’s a clever take on the breakup drunk dial song, as he turns the phrase “You’ve got my number” to be both literal and figurative.

The title track is a striking moment of introspection as he mourns the loss of his parent’s marriage and the childhood he became accustomed to.

“They used to be sunshine and roses // Their heads were way over their heels // Said they do then they don’t // Ended up dancing right through a minefield // ‘Cause the truth about living a lie is // That the lie never outlives the truth // Two hearts fell in love and two hearts grew apart // They went their separate ways and our bluebird days went dark”

In a similar vein is “Part of Life,” recorded almost exactly ten years after Davis departed Shreveport, Louisiana for Nashville. The track seems especially poignant as he grapples with the negative, and positive, occurrences that make life what it is.

“You live and learn and good ones go // You find out on down the road // When you lay it all on out and get down to the heart of it // Man that’s just life and that’s all part of it”

Davis is also a romantic throughout Bluebird Days, evidenced on his fifth number-one single, “What My World Spins Around” and the sexy “No Time Soon,” which has him promising a lot of lovin’ when he gets home. Meanwhile, “Midnight Crisis” finds him trading verses with Danielle Bradbery on the stunning ballad between a pair of exes who can’t quite move on.

Two additional standouts are “Next Thing You Know” and “Money Isn’t Real,” both of which have him looking at life through new eyes. On the former, he muses about how life comes at you fast, from meeting someone to getting married to having children, much in a vein similar to Kenny Chesney’s classic “Don’t Blink.”

Meanwhile, on “Money Isn’t Real,” which is one of only two songs not co-penned by Davis, he puts his own spin on the adage that money can’t buy happiness. “A dollar doesn’t make you rich,” He sings, “When it comes to happiness, money isn’t real.”

“Fishing Boat” is a special moment on the LP, a sentimental dedication to his grandfather, who he spent much of his childhood fishing with. “I bought a fishing boat—that was, like, the biggest purchase I’ve made,” Davis says. “It’s very unassuming, it’s nothing special at all. But I fell in love with fishing because of my grandfather. And I remember that first day thinking, ‘This is cool, man—I got this boat, and one day me and my son and my daughter can come fish, and then an overwhelming sadness came over me.” 

While there’s a lot of introspection on Bluebird Days, there are moments of fun, evidenced on songs like “One Beer in Front of the Other” and the album’s opening track, “Damn Good Time.”

The album ends with the CMA award-winning, chart-topping Luke Bryan duet, “Buy Dirt,” which put some new pressure on the singer-songwriter. “There’s pressure, definitely,” he says in a statement. “It’s not about trying to recreate ‘Buy Dirt,’ but we can approach songs like we approached that one, and that’s to write something that people are going to feel, and not just hear…So, the best thing for me is that ‘Buy Dirt’ opened up a whole other lane of songs that I think people can really connect with.”

For Jordan Davis, Bluebird Days is an exceptional body of work, elevating him even further as a notch above the genre’s next class of superstars. 

Bluebird Days Tracklist:

1. Damn Good Time (Jordan Davis, Matt Dragstrem, Chase McGill)
2. Money Isn’t Real (Jake Mitchell, Jameson Rodgers, Josh Thompson, Sarah Turner)
3. Tucson Too Late (Jordan Davis, Jacob Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins)
4. What My World Spins Around (Jordan Davis, Matt Dragstrem, Ryan Hurd)
5. Sunday Saints (Jordan Davis, Jacob Davis, Benjy Davis)
6. No Time Soon (Jordan Davis, Jacob Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins)
7. You’ve Got My Number (Jordan Davis, Jason Gantt, Josh Osborne)
8. Next Thing You Know (Jordan Davis, Greylan James, Chase McGill, Josh Osborne)
9. Fishing Spot (Jordan Davis, Will Bundy, Josh Miller, Josh Thompson)
10. One Beer In Front Of The Other (Jordan Davis, Jacob Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins)
11. Bluebird Days (Jordan Davis, Jacob Davis, Josh Dorr, Chris LaCorte)
12. Part Of It (Jordan Davis, Jacob Davis, Matt McKinney, Jordan Walker)
13. Short Fuse (Jordan Davis, Paul DiGiovanni, Josh Thompson, Emily Weisband)
14. Whiskey Weak (Jordan Davis, Paul DiGiovanni, Jamie Paulin)
15. Midnight Crisis – Featuring Danielle Bradbery (Jordan Davis, Paul DiGiovanni, Derrick Southerland)
16. What I Wouldn’t Do (Matt McVaney, Emily Reid, Travis Wood)
17. Buy Dirt – Featuring Luke Bryan (Jordan Davis, Jacob Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins)

Country Swag Picks:

1. Next Thing You Know
2. Money Isn’t Real
3. What My World Spins Around
4. Bluebird Days
5. Damn Good Time

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