Before becoming a country star, the 25-year-old from small-town Southern Illinois worked at the local meat processing plant, laid gas pipelines, and promoted his fledgling truck-lift business on TikTok. Then a video Zimmerman casually uploaded—covering Black Stone Cherry’s “Stay” between truck builds—went viral, and by December 2020, he’d written his first song. Cue the record deal, the Morgan Wallen co-sign, the world tour, and the double-platinum debut full-length (2023’s *Religiously. The Album.*). But as he reminds you on the rowdy “New to Country,” he’s still the same whiskey-sipping, ATV-riding country boy, emphasizing in his raspy drawl: “Ain’t a thing changed ’round here but the money.” Written fresh after a breakup, *Religiously* was rife with ballads about the pain of lost love. On its follow-up, Zimmerman sings a different tune. “When I first started writing songs, my life was like heartbreak,” he tells Apple Music’s Kelleigh Bannen. “With this album, my life has been awesome. I’ve been touring all over the world. I’ve been writing songs. I’m taking care of my family.” There are still plenty of big-hearted ballads on *Different Night Same Rodeo*, though now they’re scattered between heartland rock jams like the KID LAROI duet “Lost” or “Backup Plan” with Luke Combs, on which Zimmerman delivers his own motivational sermon: “If you got a fire, don’t lose it/If you got a do-or-die dream, do it/If you got something to prove, go on and prove it.” Making regular appearances throughout the album’s 18 tracks is Zimmerman’s trusty old Chevy Silverado, which he took out a loan to buy from his grandpa at 16. “All day, when I was in school, I was thinking about getting in my truck and jamming music,” he says. “It felt like freedom.” That same truck is ridden with memories on “Chevy Silverado,” a track he says took him three years to perfect. And on “Holy Smokes,” it’s where he falls in love for the first time, chain-smoking cigarettes in the church parking lot: “At 17, that’s what hallelujah was.”
After finding quick success with his independently released 2024 debut album *The Prodigal*, Josiah Queen returns with this sophomore record, his first for a major label. The Tampa-born singer-songwriter largely sticks to a similar formula here, crafting the kind of poppy, inspirational CCM that first brought him attention. Highlights include opening track “Yesterday Is Dead,” a rollicking, Lumineers-esque celebration of redemption, and fan favorite “Dusty Bibles,” which finds Queen considering the tension between a life of faith and the comforts of the modern world. A handful of guests join Queen on *Mt. Zion*, including former Maverick City Music member Brandon Lake on “Can’t Steal My Joy” and fellow CCM singer-songwriter Gable Price on “Thief in the Night,” while Northern Irish Christian singer-songwriter Benjamin William Hastings lends his voice to the stomp-clap anthem “I’ll Fly Away.”
A rapper, singer, and songwriter known for her work as one fourth of third-generation phenom MAMAMOO, Moon Byul made her solo debut in 2018 with the self-care affirmation pop single “Selfish.” On her fourth K-pop solo EP, 2025’s *laundri*, Moon Byul continues to sort through the emotional laundry. “Goodbyes and Sad Eyes” is a lighthearted pop-rock track about breaking free from a relationship. Each track has an associating item of clothing and wash instructions. For the lead single, Moon Byul assigns a blue tie and prescribes a “cold hand wash.” MAMAMOO is one of the rare idol girl groups that writes a majority of its own material, and Moon Byul is one of the most prolific songwriters of the group, with credits on over 100 songs. For *laundri*, Moon Byul co-wrote and/or composed all but “Goodbyes and Sad Eyes” and “DRIP,” including the R&B-infused love song “Cotton” and fan-inspired rock ballad “Take-off.”
Russell Dickerson has never shied away from playful humor, so it’s fitting that the country hitmaker would poke a little fun at himself with the title of his fourth studio album. Accordingly, *Famous Back Home* is a fun and energetic listen, once again setting Dickerson apart from the current trend of down-and-out heartbreakers popularized by artists like Zach Bryan and Morgan Wallen. That said, Dickerson does open the album on a more serious note, lending his smooth croon to a wistful narrative about lost romance on “Dust.” “Happen to Me” is driving and melodic, with a sweet nod to the Cyndi Lauper classic “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” at its chorus. The title track, which closes out the LP, is an emotional high point, as Dickerson celebrates the home life he’s built with his family over the trappings of fame and commercial success. The album also includes the first two outside cuts he has recorded: the heartfelt anthem “Sippin’ on Top of the World” and the tender, reflective Vince Gill collaboration “Never Leave.”
Guy Sebastian refers to his 10th studio record as his “sunshine album.” “My last album *T. R. U. T. H.* was dealing with loss and grief and with inner strength and not letting people put a ceiling over what you can achieve in life. There was some subject matter that was a bit heavy,” the singer tells Apple Music. “This album is a realization that heaviness doesn’t go away, and grief doesn’t go away. Challenges don’t go away. But neither do the good times. Neither does making great memories that last a lifetime; neither does loving the people in your life. I wanted to write an album that reminded me of that. It really is an album to inspire me to love my people more and to enjoy life more. Getting back to joy and joyful living.” Musically, *100 Times Around the Sun* matches that joie de vivre, buoyed by Stevie Wonder-esque stabs of joyful soul and funk (“Afterlife”), ’70s disco (the title track, “Maybe”), and uplifting balladry (“The Keys”). Written across a four-year period, Sebastian penned over 100 songs in Sydney, Bali, Nashville, and Los Angeles, working with writers such as Oak Felder (Sabrina Carpenter, Lizzo) on “I Chose Good” and Jamie Hartman (Lewis Capaldi, Kylie Minogue) on the title track. “The thing that makes me most proud is how much effort went into the album,” he offers. “I could not have given more of myself.” Here, Sebastian takes Apple Music through *100 Times Around the Sun*, track by track. **“Maybe”** “It’s a simple, soulful song; it’s not tackling any particularly deep content. I will often write songs from a certain perspective knowing full well it’s going to have a completely different perspective for other people. Some have listened to ‘Maybe’ and told me they were at a crossroads with their job and feeling scared to dive in, and they heard that song in the morning and it made them make the phone call. It’s funny the stories I get.” **“No Reason to Stay”** “The song’s about narcissism. There’s a great phrase I’ve always really loved, and it’s that when someone gives you no reason to stay, that’s your reason to go. I was working with \[songwriter\] Steve Rusch and he was like, ‘We should write a song to that!’” **“Strangers”** “It’s one of those weird human things we do where we break up and then we go back to small talk. Or you avoid each other. Hang on, you were my person, you knew things about me no one knows. It’s such a weird thing that you can do so much life with somebody and then it’s too awkward, or there’s too much pain, to speak. Relationships are painful and sometimes that person becomes a stranger again.” **“100 Times Around the Sun”** “It’s what the whole album really encapsulates, which is really understanding the value of having a small circle of people that you can actually service. People that have got your back, you’ve got their back, and you can actually be something to those people instead of trying to be everything to everyone. Once you’ve got those people, you could go 100 times around the sun 1,000 more times and you would choose those people to do it every time.” **“Write One”** “It was \[my wife’s\] birthday. I was writing for the album in Bali, and I sent her this song on her birthday as a present. It’s basically saying, there’s all these songs that say you’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, or you take my breath away, and yet there’s no one song that says all the things about you that I love. There’s no one song that does you justice. So I’m gonna write one. The song is about the pursuit of writing that song. The pursuit is your way of saying, ‘Nothing does you justice.’” **“The Keys”** “It’s about someone finding you where you’re at. In your mind, you are broken and you’re a tattered mess and a shell of a structure, and yet this person has rolled up their sleeves and said, ‘No, I believe there’s something here I want to invest in.’ And they’ve got to work and built you up and made you this structure than can stand through any storm. And because that person has shown you such selfless love, you’re saying, ‘You built me, you built this house, so it’s only you that gets the keys.’” **“All Yours Again”** “The lyrical matter is really about, ‘I’ve been here but I haven’t been here. I’ve been laying in this bed, but you’ve been sleeping next to someone who is a shell of who he normally is. But I’m all yours again now. I’m back.’” **“Cupid”** “I wrote this for a friend of mine who made a joke in passing. It was along the lines of, ‘Cupid had one job. Just one job! Of all the people that cupid could have shot—was he wearing a blindfold? His heart’s not in it anymore and he’s just firing at will.’ It’s really a fun love song.” **“I Chose Good”** “The concept is mum’s are always right. And she said, ‘Marry your best friend.’ She gave you all this advice and you ignored it. And you suffered for ignoring mum. I wanted to write a song about the day of the wedding and here is your bride coming down that aisle and everyone’s smiling and their jaws are to the floor at how beautiful this bride is, and you’re looking at your mum and you’re like, ‘Look at that, mum, I chose good. I listened to your advice this time and she’s the one.’” **“Get It Done”** “That song is about the grind of what this industry has been. Everyone’s got this weird, preconceived thought that you win *…Idol* or a show like that and suddenly you’ve got this whole massive team of people that are supporting you. It’s just not like that. I was pretty young, naïve, very sheltered, and thrown to the wolves. I was largely alone and had to navigate this strange world. The song’s about remembering all the good things and getting all the stuff done that I don’t want to do.” **“Antidote” (feat. Sam Fischer)** “‘Antidote’ came out of my drummer’s wedding. In his wedding speech he said to his wife, ‘You’re the antidote to all my problems.’ That was such a beautiful thing, and you often don’t hear drummers say intelligent things \[laughs\]. So it really stuck with me.” **“See You There” (with Riley Biederer)** “That song says, ‘You’re not here anymore and I’m so used to you being here, and I can’t not dream about you. Every time I close my eyes, you’re there.’ When you wake up you’re so sad that it was a dream, but at least you got to see them there. It’s such a beautiful way of saying I miss you.” **“Afterlife”** “I wanted to end the album on something that was really feel-good. It reminds me of Stevie \[Wonder\]; that melody steers me towards Stevie. The bounce of that chorus almost hits you by surprise and it just feels so good.”
