Zach Bryan reveals his feeling with the release of his new album

Zach Bryan is holding nothing back on his new album, With Heaven on Top.

Released on Friday, January 9, 2026, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter’s sixth studio album features 25 songs that shed light on his feelings toward ex-girlfriend Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia, his life with his new wife Samantha Leonard, and his decision to get sober late last year.

On the song “Skin,” Bryan takes aim at an ex, promising to take “a blade to my old tattoos” in order to drain “the blood between me and you.” He sings, “I’m taking a blade to my own skin / And I ain’t ever touching yours again. How do tattoos take to your skin? Does your higher ground ever sink in? Do you love people just to win when it’s over?”

Bryan also slams his ex for speaking poorly about his inner circle with the lyrics, “Do you still talk s— on all of your friends? / Need to take it all to the chin this time stone-cold sober.” Observers note the song likely references LaPaglia, 26, from whom Bryan announced his split in October 2024. The podcast host notably has Bryan’s lyrics from the song “28” tattooed on her arm. The two broke up under acrimonious circumstances, with LaPaglia later accusing the musician of emotional abuse and claiming he offered her a $12 million settlement to remain silent.

While Bryan has not addressed those specific claims, he seems to make his feelings clear on the track “Plastic Cigarette.” In the song, he describes meeting someone “evil” in Queens, New York; the pair originally began their romance in June 2023 after she attended his concert at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens. He sings, “My brother had told me to leave but I didn’t believe the evil beneath some people you meet out in Queens.”

The song “Slicked Back” also contains apparent references to the contrast between his past and present relationships. He sings, “Used to know some folks who put it all online but you paint landscapes in the evening time,” a nod to his wife Samantha Leonard, 28, whose paintings Bryan has previously shared on social media.

Elsewhere, the star sings positively about Leonard, whom he married in Spain on New Year’s Eve. On the song “Runny Eggs,” he mentions booking a flight to Pamplona to “find a lady with some big old Spanish eyes.” The couple attended the Running of the Bulls together in July before tying the knot in the country months later.

The track “Appetite” touches on his sobriety journey. Bryan announced in November that he was two months sober after working through a “toxic relationship with booze” with a therapist. He sings, “Everyone I know got older / Told my drunk ass to get sober, settle down and have some kids.” He also references his 2023 run-in with the law on the title track, singing about spending a “night in jail after pissing off a cop,” a reference to his arrest in Oklahoma for interfering with a traffic stop.

With Heaven on Top was written, recorded, and produced by Bryan in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is set to begin a world tour in St. Louis this March and will release an acoustic version of the record on January 12.