Brantley Gilbert Doubles Down On Bro Country

Few contemporary country trends in recent memory attracted more dismissive responses than bro country did at its height. A few years back, the breezily macho delivery of backwoods come-ons over big, blunted guitar riffs and spindly programmed beats seemed like a reliable and easily replicable formula for hits. The perception was that those songs amounted to little more than crass capitalizing on hollow tropes, and over the last year and a half, a significant number of country's male acts — known quantities and newcomers alike — have steered away from bro sensibilities. The momentum in the format has shifted in increasingly diffuse directions — to falsetto-exploiting lovermen; sensitive types; boy band-style romancers; introspective brooders; rough-edged, self-aware rogues and .