By: Sadie Christine
After blowing up on social media a few years ago, Bailey Zimmerman has been working extremely hard, touring, staying active online, and releasing country radio hits that showcase him as both a writer and an artist.
His sophomore album, Different Night, Same Rodeo, has just been released, and it feels different from his previous work. With second albums, there’s often some skepticism and high expectations placed on the artist, but with this new project, you can hear how thoughtfully each song was crafted, from the big-name collaborations to the lyricism and storytelling.
This album keeps Bailey’s signature heartbreak-country ballad style, with storytelling front and center. Alongside those ballads are plenty of upbeat tracks, some featuring top country stars like Luke Combs on “Backup Plan,” as well as cross-genre collaborations with Diplo and The Kid LAROI that blend genres in ways that really work.
“Lost,” featuring The Kid LAROI, was released as the final single alongside the album and is already trending on TikTok. The music video blends Bailey’s country imagery with LAROI’s hip-hop/pop aesthetic, making for a striking visual and musical pairing.
The main theme of this album is healing from heartache and reflecting on patterns. The opening track, “Comin’ in Cold,” tells the story of the same experiences happening in different situations captured in the lyric “different night, same rodeo,” which also serves as the album’s title and backbone. This is a heartbreak record, but the lyrics convey a sense of acceptance. Appreciating the good times, acknowledging the end of a relationship, and letting it go. We hear this in tracks like “Chevy Silverado,” “Yours for the Breaking,” “Holy Smokes,” “When It Was,” “At the Same Time,” “These Nights,” and “Everything But Up.” Bailey also addresses misconceptions about himself in songs like “Dare You to Try It” and “New to Country.”
Zimmerman shares writing credits on this record with hitmakers like Ashley Gorley and Austin Shawn. Shawn, who has collaborated with Bailey on multiple projects, has songwriting credits on nearly every track here and on Zimmerman’s debut album. He’s also behind some of Bailey’s biggest hits, including “Religiously” and “Rock and a Hard Place.”
Different Night, Same Rodeo was one of the year’s most anticipated country releases, and it does not disappoint.
Stay wild, Stay listening, Stay country.
