Eric Church’s new album, Soul, is available now, April 23rd, on all streaming platforms. The record marks the last of 3 new albums released by Church this month, including ‘&’ and ‘Heart‘.. Read our first impression review of ‘Soul’ below as we dig a little deeper into the new music.

For Eric Church fans, the final piece of his incredible Heart & Soul collection is Soul, released today, April 23. Following in the footsteps of Heart and &, Soul shows Church stretching himself musically, sampling different sounds and truly making another standout record. Out of the three new releases, Soul is sonically the most diverse of Church’s offerings, truly living up to its name.

Soul opens with the grooving “Rock & Roll Found Me,” which tells the tale of a “skinny little white kid,” whose life was changed when he discovered music. He compares it to his faith and to a drug, a new addiction for a kid from the wrong side of the tracks. “I turned on my amps and all at once my blind could see,” He proclaims. “Yeah when rock and roll found me.” 

Church continues to explore his soulful side throughout this project with songs like “Where I Wanna Be” and “Look Good And You Know It.” The latter track mixes driving guitars with a breakdown that actually sounds like an old doo-wop song, Church seamlessly trading vocals with the female background singers. Meanwhile, “Where I Wanna Be” also shows Church experimenting musically and vocally, his voice sliding into a falsetto as he croons, “And I’m down, I’m game, I’m in, I’m free // Wherevеr she is that’s where I wanna bе.” 

“Break It Kind of Guy,” is classic Church with a twist, the chorus almost venturing into Bee Gees-esque territory, while “Bad Mother Trucker” continues in that similar vein, as its Church dialed up to eleven. The breakdown midway through is truly something special, and we cannot wait to hear this live.

While Church is experimenting with different sounds and styles here, there’s also some tried and true Chief on Soul. This is exemplified on one of the album’s highlights, “Hell of a View,” Church singing of life with him, “This ain’t for everybody // Toes hanging off the ledge // Like we got nothin’ to lose // Ain’t always heaven, baby // This livin’ on the edge // You holdin’ me holdin’ you // It’s a hell of a view.”

Likewise, “Jenny” is a mid-tempo country song that Church debuted at this year’s Country Radio Seminar, revealing to those in attendance that it was inspired by a broken generator.

Soul ends with “Lynyrd Skynard Jones,” the only track not co-written by Church. Written by his frequent collaborator Casey Beathard, the song reveals the story of an Alabama boy whose mother was a big fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd, “born to carry on who his mother was a fan of.” Church tells the haunting tale over a simple acoustic guitar, a twist coming in the song’s final line. While Eric Church can rock with the best of them, he’s also one of the genre’s finest storytellers, as evidenced on “Lynyrd Skynard Jones.”

Soul is Church’s most eclectic collection yet, beginning with “Rock & Roll Found Me,” and we’re so glad it did, as it’s impossible to imagine a world without Eric Church’s music.

NYCS Picks:

1. Hell of a View
2. Break It Kind of Guy
3. Look Good and You Know It

Eric Church’s new album, Heart, is available now, April 16th, on all streaming platforms. The record marks the first of 3 new albums to be released by Church this month, including ‘&’ and ‘Soul‘, which will come next week. Read our first impression review of ‘Heart‘ below as we dig a little deeper into the new music. 

There are few artists as unique and innovative as Eric Church. Determined to bend the conventions of the music industry, Church continues down that path with the first release of his three-part collection, Heart & Soul. Heart is out today (April 16), followed by ‘&’ on April 20 (released exclusively on vinyl to members of his fan club, The Church Choir), and Soul on April 23. Each part of the collection was born during Church’s month-long retreat to the mountains of North Carolina, where he collaborated with famed producer Jay Joyce on 24 new explosive and introspective tracks, each with a unique sound and story.

The album opens with “Heart On Fire,” and it’s immediately apparent that Church is back and better than ever, ready to do something different on this record. One of the highlights of many of Church’s recent releases has been the use of a female background vocalist, and this is on full display here, as is a mean guitar solo that begins around the 2:25 mark.

“Heart of the Night” tells the tale of escaping a suffocating life, and the staccato delivery of “Let’s point this thing west //into the chest // of the still-beating heart of the night” is one of our favorite things we’ve heard in a long time. The bridge takes on a life of its own as it completely changes melodically, venturing into almost Broadway-esque territory, and it’s clear we’re witnessing something special on this album.

“Russian Roulette” is a clever take on that moment when a song can literally cripple you. Church assures us that he’s doing okay, but he needs to avoid those songs that will strike him like a bullet, “messing up my head, playing Russian Roulette with the radio.” This is such a relatable topic that those who know and love music can most certainly relate to, as everyone has a song, or songs, that can bring you to your knees. “I need a melody without a memory,” He pleads. “Take me where I’ve never been // I hear ‘em gunnin’ for me // I feel ‘em huntin’ for me // But I ain’t tunin’ them in.”

Church also continues to celebrate humanity in different ways on “People Break” and “Never Break Heart.” The first is a slow homage to heartbreak. “People break, people try // Things happen people cry // Someone leaves, love dies,” Church sings over the melancholy music. “Someone changes their mind // Baby I get it I really do // But now I gotta go and do the hardest part // Break the news to a broken heart.”

As usual, Church isn’t one to stay quiet when it comes to the realness of life, tackling some of life’s toughest topics on “Stick That In Your Country Song”, which is interestingly the only song on this collection that he didn’t co-write. Profiled on the cover of Billboard for encouraging fans to receive the COVID vaccine, Church is open to singing and talking about everything.

The album goes out with a bang, just as it began. “Bunch of Nothing” shows a different side of Church, a more twangy up-tempo than we’re used to from the Chief, lending itself midway through to a hand-clapping musical interlude that is sure to have you bopping along. 

The final song on Heart is “Love Shine Down,” a track that builds from a sparse slow tempo to a full-out Gospel-inspired jam. Here, Church gives a nod to one of his earliest hits, “Sinners Like Me,” as he sings, “It’s cold and it’s dark in this sinner’s heart // Lady let your love shine down.”

Eric Church’s Heart is a unique and genre-bending release, showing different sides of Church, and if it’s any indication of what’s to come, we can’t wait for the next two releases from Heart & Soul.

NYCS Picks:

1. Heart of the Night
2. People Break
3. Russian Roulette