Jordan Davis Releases Brand New EP, ‘Buy Dirt’ – Full Review

Jordan Davis returns with his latest release, a brand new EP titled, Buy Dirt. Available now, May 21st, on all streaming platforms, check out our full review of the project below.

Almost a year ago to the day, Jordan Davis released his six-track, self-titled EP which contained the fun “Cool Anymore” featuring Julia Michaels, “Detours”, and the current chart-climbing hit “Almost Maybes.” His new project, Buy Dirt is a pandemic-inspired compilation of songs in which Davis got the chance to rediscover his love for songwriting. He admits in his EP announcement video that upon arriving in Nashville, he lost sight of the type of music he wanted to write.

“I’ve always loved artists who take risks. I’m in a different spot in my life than I was when I released Home State. We all are!” he acknowledged in a recent press release. “2020 was a tough time for everyone. I was able to use that time to re-center some things in my world, and I didn’t want those lessons to go to waste. I wanted to create something special. The best way to do that was to write honestly, and we did a lot of that on this record.”

The record starts off with a short cover of John Prine’s “Spanish Pipedream (Blow Up Your TV),” which is not only a nice tribute to the legendary singer-songwriter who passed away last April, it complements the theme of this EP and the world the past fourteen months. It describes the benefit of disconnecting and going off the map for a little while. It allows one to live carefree in the moment and take in all of life’s little pleasures. Davis slowed down the track immensely to emphasize the current meaning of the song.

The title track is the centerpiece of the project and features country superstar Luke Bryan. The song’s narrator is sitting on a back porch with his grandfather, listening to the old man dispense pearls of wisdom between sips of hot coffee. Over a light, string melody, Davis and Bryan summarize the man’s advice in one quote: “you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy dirt.” Life moves fast and you have to appreciate and take advantage of your short time here on Earth. Finding the person of your dreams, doing something you love for a living, practicing your faith, and raising a family are the keys to happiness. Davis talked about working with the singer who he grew up listening to on the radio:

“We sat around the fire after a golf tournament one day, smoking cigars and talking about everything but music,” he recalled. “That conversation always stuck with me. Luke isn’t just a great entertainer; he’s a great Dad, a great husband, and a great friend, too. That’s what ‘Buy Dirt’ embodies. When I wrote ‘Buy Dirt,’ I knew he could relate to the song’s message.”

“Need To Not” and “Lose You” were both previously released. The former is similar to Dan + Shay’s number-one hit “How Not To,” as they both express the singer’s struggle with letting his former lover go. He knows he should just go home and watch TV, but driving past her block tests his temptation and brings back old, unwelcomed feelings. The latter sprinkles small amounts of steel-guitar over a pop production. The man in the song sees a couple at a restaurant that seems to have had better days. This makes him fear that maybe someday he and his partner will slowly grow apart as well. He confesses he is in this relationship for the long haul and even the thought of losing her is too difficult to process.

“I Still Smoked” tells the story of young love. The singer reminisces on the time when he and his now-wife met. He remembers all the details of that night from the weather, the drink in her cup, and the artist playing on the radio. People doubted their relationship, including her mom, but that only made their love stronger.

“We were runway flames in a backseat fire // Growing up fast on Renegade tires // Didn’t worry about tomorrow and sure didn’t worry about us // Every time I kiss you it feels the same //  I still remember us that way // Don’t it feel just like yesterday you drove that old jeep and I still smoked?”

“Drink Had Me,” is the most upbeat tune on the project, as Davis uses clever word-play to describe how a night out with his buddies ended up. His plans of staying home got interrupted by several messages from his friends and they finally got him to agree to have one drink, but we all know how that story goes. Instead of having the drink, the drink had him calling his ex and spending the night at her place, leading to problematic and undefined feelings. With a catalog containing plenty of slow and mid-tempo songs, this fun track will serve nicely during his live sets.

“The drink had me want one more // Won’t be forgetting what we broke up for // and doing the make-up, wake-up thing // I just went in there to have one drink but the drink had me”

Throughout the record, Davis shows that he has a lot to be grateful for. By combining elements of country, pop, rock, and R&B, yet preserving the southern storytelling and timeless melodies that make country music so profound, Davis creates a sound unique to himself. He has matured so much during his young career and it is shining through his music.

Buy Dirt Track Listing:

1. Blow Up Your TV (Written by John Prine and Jeffrey Bradford Kent)
2. Buy Dirt (feat. Luke Bryan) (Written by Jordan Davis, Jacob Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins)
3. Need To Not (Written by Jordan Davis, Jacob Davis, Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins)
4. Drink Had Me (Written by Jordan Davis, Ashley Gorley, Emily Weisband, Paul DiGiovanni)
5. Lose You (Written by Jordan Davis, Paul DiGiovanni, Josh Kerr, Josh Dorr)
6. Almost Maybes (Written by Jordan Davis, Jesse Frasure, Hillary Lindsey)
7. I Still Smoked (Written by Jordan Davis, Randy Montana, Jonathan Singleton)
8. Trying (Written by Jordan Davis, Ashley Gorley, Emily Weisband, Paul DiGiovanni)

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