's third full-length studio album Skeletons hits shelves and streams today, and it kicks just as much ass as we hoped it would.
The brothers pair their acclaimed voice (T.J.) and guitar work (John) and give us 12 tracks across nearly 40 minutes and you'll find yourself tapping your toes, singing along, and maybe even feeling like you want to shout a little hell ya while you listen.
Get yourself started with All Night. Trust me.
It's true (and a shame) that Brothers Osborne might not be as well known as they should be. With more major award wins (4 CMA, 2 ACM) than Top 20 singles (2: Stay A Little Longer, It Ain't My Fault), the boys' fans are the ones that know. The ones that can't wait for new music. The ones you know that they are taking the music with the opinions and the talent with the men. The ones that can't wait for live shows and special performances. The ones who are happy to have these 12 songs and the prospect of more from Brothers Osborne in the future.
I'd love to tell you that I think there's a huge radio hit on Skeletons, but I'm not sure there is. The title track is awesome. I think that All The Good Ones Are (featured on Spotify's New Music Friday playlist on album release day) is a fun song that feels like it's begging for folks to be dancing on honky-tonk floors. I liked All Night so much I shared it in this post already, and it's a Top 30 single, but I don't know how much higher it will climb. And I do think that High Note has the kind of heart and feeling and connection to get to people... but who knows.
However, that doesn't take a single GD thing away from the music.
We've said the same thing about artists like Kip Moore and Drake White and other fan favourites who put on excellent live shows, write and record great albums, and stay true to themselves and we will never begrudge an artist for making the music they love and want to make.
While we're talking songs... it's imperative that we give John Osborne the love he deserves for Muskrat Greene. It's 2:36 of fantastic strumming, picking, rhythm, toe-tapping, ivory-tickling and fun that leads perfectly into Dead Man's Curve as the next track and I can already imagine how it sounds and feels and transitions from one track to the next on vinyl - and I love it.
T.J. and John Osborne also wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, giving them another feather in their caps and credit to the art they've created. Good on them for being involved in all of the pieces and parts of Skeletons. It might not sound exceptional for an artist to write on their own album, but it's worth celebrating, especially when the songs are of this kind of quality.
It also allows the duo to share more of themselves. In a press release from Universal Music, John said, "If Pawn Shop was our introduction, and Port Saint Joe was like the first conversation we had with someone over a beer, then Skeletons is the moment where you start getting down to the real stuff and showing who you really are. If you really want to get to know us, this is the record to do it."
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As the boys sing on the fourth track, "I'm good for some but I'm not for everyone", and the folks that Brothers Osborne are good for, well, you're in for a treat.
Note: Also on I'm Not For Everyone, TJ sings, "I'm always speakin' my mind when I've better off bitin' my tongue." And if you've ever heard the brothers weigh in on issues like gun control with views that oppose the conservative south NRA base, you'll understand maybe what they're singing about. But I'm glad they're speaking their minds on important issues like that.
It's been 20 years since T.J. and John performed in the Anne Arundel County Battle of the Bands, and to say that they've come a long way wold be a massive understatement. With three studio albums, awards, well-known songs, and celebrated voices in the country community, Brothers Osborne have put themselves squarely on the country music map. And Skeletons is only going to cement that more.
Hit play on the stream of Skeletons now to give Brothers Osborne a listen. Enjoy.
Brothers Osborne, Skeletons Tracklist