2023 has been a massive year for country music, with lots of exciting album releases from the genre’s biggest stars. Country’s two most popular stars at the moment, Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen, each released incredibly successful hit albums earlier this year. Combs’ “Gettin’ Old” album has the potential to be an all time classic, and Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” has dominated the charts for multiple months (although I personally found it to be a disappointing step in the wrong direction for the mercurial star). This year has also seen the continued rise of multiple exciting young artists with impressive album releases like Lainey Wilson (Bell Bottom Country), Megan Moroney (Lucky), and Riley Green (Ain’t My Last Rodeo).Most notably, Zach Bryan has released two albums, a self titled album and Boys of Faith, which have added momentum to his meteoric rise of the past eighteen months.
One of the recent, and most exciting additions to this list of great country music to come out this year is “Leather,” a twelve song release from Cody Johnson. The album was released in full on November 3 and has received positive reviews across the board. “Leather” is Johnson’s seventh studio album. Johnson, a native of Texas, stays true to his neo-traditional country roots, with a wide variety of topics covered in the twelve tracks. As with his prior six studio albums, the inspiration that he draws from country music legends such as George Strait and Brooks & Dunn is plain to see. Here is a quick review and rating of each of the twelve songs in “Leather.”
Track 1: Work Boots
This song looks at an internal dialogue between the protagonist of the song and his boots as he tries to muster up the courage to go and ask a girl at the bar to dance with him. The writing is clever, and the tune and beat are catchy; it’s reminiscent of Johnson’s 2014 hit “Dance Her Home,” and it takes a similar approach to a love song as Jake Owen’s recent song “My Boots Miss Yours,” albeit with much more effectiveness.
Rating: 8/10
Track 2: Double Down
Drinking to get over heartbreak is a common trope in country music, and this song fits that bill. Johnson uses the title to both emphasize how much his protagonist misses his old lover, but also to of course represent his dealing with this pain by “getting a double down.” It’s a decent song, but nothing new or special.
Rating: 6.5/10
Track 3: Watching My Old Flame
Another heartbreak song, but this one has the potential to be one of Johnson’s best, not just in “Leather,” but in his entire catalog. The slow melody and subtle fiddle in the background set the mood for dealing with seeing your ex. Again, Johnson masterfully uses the title as a double meaning, mournfully stating that “It’s the hardest thing watching my old flame go out,” representing the challenge of trying to move on but also seeing your old lover out and about. The emotion pours out of each chorus, and strikes a meaningful, relatable note for anyone who has gone through heartbreak.
Rating: 9.5/10
Track 4: That’s Texas
An upbeat ode to his home state, “That’s Texas” is a catchy song that sounds like it could’ve easily come out of the 90’s country scene, and is especially reminiscent of Little Texas’s 1993 hit, “God Blessed Texas.” It glorifies the little things that Johnson loves about his home state, with references to Texas country music legends such as George Strait, Robert Earl Keen, and Alabama’s 1984 hit song about the state “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in Your Band).” The song is catchy and fun, and is certain to be well played on road trips, but it isn’t particularly memorable otherwise.
Rating: 7.5/10
Track 5: Dirt Cheap
This is country music at its sentimental best. Johnson tells the emotional story of a farmer who is asked to sell his farm to land developers, and slowly and emotionally explains why he won’t. He refers to sentimental memories connected to his home, including but not limited to how he watched his daughter grow up there, how she still comes back home, and pointing to where his dog is buried.. The song strikes a sentimental, “home is where the heart is” note, and drives home the point that there are some things that are worth more than money.
Rating: 10/10
Track 6: Jesus Loves You
When looking at the title of this song, you would think it would be just another generic song in the long list of country songs about faith, but it is anything but. It ominously tells the story of a criminal breaking into a protagonist’s house, and his anger over it and the fear it causes his daughters. He speaks to the criminal directly in the song, conveying his anger, but stating that he can redeem himself by finding Jesus while in jail, and leaving an ominous threat that if he ever threatens his family again, he’s going to “meet [Jesus] face to face.” It’s a haunting song, from the story, to the slow, ominous, almost evil sounding instrumentals, but it’s incredibly well done, and a riveting, well told story. For an artist who predominantly sings about love gone right, love gone wrong, and rodeos, “Jesus Loves You” is a significant deviation from Johnson’s normal style, but it is masterfully done.
Rating: 9.8/10
Track 7: Whiskey Bent (feat. Jelly Roll)
Struggling with alcohol is another common theme in country music, and Johnson addresses the challenges that people face in getting over alcoholism. His collaboration with Jelly Roll is an unlikely duo, but it surprisingly works decently well. The song tackles a meaningful topic, and is reminiscent of Luke Combs’ song “Joe” from earlier in the year, but is somewhat repetitive, and not as well done as that Combs track.
Rating: 6.8/10
Track 8: Leather
An ode to the American cowboy, the album’s title track is everything that Cody Johnson is about as a country singer. A cowboy and former rodeo competitor himself, Johnson sings from the strength,character, and commitment it takes to be a cowboy, drawing a regular analogy that cowboys are made of leather because they are rough and imperfect, but similar to leather are resilient and have the ability to bend yet never break under pressure. The song ends up with a surprising yet fitting yodel from Johnson, and the slow melody only builds on the emotion and sentimentality he’s clearly trying to convey.
Rating: 9.5/10
Track 9: People in the Back
This is clearly meant to be a concert crowd pleaser, shouting out fans sitting in the cheapest seats who came to see him live, specifically the blue collar communities that make up a huge portion of the country music fan base. The beat is quick, catchy, fun and relatable, and feels like the type of song that is good in general, but will be great live in concert.
Rating 8/10
Track 10: Long Live Country Music (feat. Brooks & Dunn)
In an ode to country music as a whole, there aren’t many artists better to collaborate with than the legendary 90’s country duo Brooks & Dunn. With Johnson and Ronnie Dunn trading off on the vocals, the song celebrates all of the country music themes that the genre is known, loved and (sometimes, unfortunately) mocked for. There are lots of subtle and not so subtle references to past country superstars, famous country single hits, and more. It’s nothing out of the box in terms of creativity or memorability, but for any country fan it’s an ode to everything that we love about country music, specifically the glory of 90’s country music.
Rating: 8.8/10
Track 11: The Painter
For all of the songs on the album, this one has received the most acclaim since the album was released. Johnson even performed it at the recent CMA Awards. An ode to a lover who made the protagonist’s life better, the song is reminiscent of some of Johnson’s best love songs from his previous albums, such as “Diamond in my Pocket” and “With You I Am.” The melody is beautiful, with a swift beat and great instrumentals.
Rating: 9.5/10
Track 12: Make Me a Mop
This is a slow, reflective end to the album, where Johnson reflects on how we all make mistakes and say things that we regret, and that nobody is perfect. The song slowly evolves into a message about how despite these mistakes and regrets, all that a person can do is try and be the best person that they can. It’s a great message delivered over a slow, melancholy melody, with quiet, de-emphasized instrumental. It’s not a catchy, up tempo end to the album, but it feels appropriate given the general nature of the album, and the general nature of the songs that feel most prominent in “Leather.”
Rating: 8/10
Overall Album Rating: 8.49/10
