Warner Music Nashville

Release Date: June 9th 2023

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Gabby Barrett– Glory Days (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

1. Glory Days

Over the past few years, one of the most popular and inspiring and engaging and encouraging artists to have debuted, would have to be Gabby Barrett. Gabby placed third in American Idol in 2018, and she released her debut album Goldmine in June 2020. I reviewed this album, and it was one of the first country albums I listened to from front to back, and hence one of the first country albums I reviewed. I wrote a pretty lengthy introduction and overall review about Gabby’s debut album, and how much it resonated with me. And thus, if you want to check out the review, you can read it here. But the long and short of it, was that (and I quote verbatim!): Gabby Barrett’s Goldmine is a breath of fresh air and incredibly revitalising in my opinion; and Gabby’s faith in Jesus is just the ‘icing on the cake’ on this album. With plenty of standout tracks such as “Footprints On The Moon”, “Thank God”, “I Hope”, “Got Me” and “Strong” to name a few; there’s something about this project that will certainly make me revisit these songs again and again. Call it Gabby’s passion, and fun, infectious bubbly personality. Or you could call it her intense love for Jesus, and the fact that she’s not afraid about speaking for her faith and speaking up in support of fellow Christians. But whatever the case, if you were like me before and not a fan of country music whatsoever, then I firmly believe that Gabby Barrett’s Goldmine will make you a fan. I certainly has for me… For me, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a stronger and more passionate debut project in recent memory- and I’ve heard and reviewed a lot of albums. In 2021, Gabby released the deluxe edition of Goldmine (and you can read that review here!); but right now, Gabby has unveiled her brand new song “Glory Days”.

Presumably the lead single from an unnamed album releasing sometime this year or next year, Gabby’s hit new single speaks about gratitude and thankfulness to Jesus for the days we have right now in the present. Sometimes we may wish for something far off in the distant future or even in the near future- that if I get ___, then I’ll be happy. But Gabby flips that notion on its head, and reiterates that we can be grateful and thankful now, simply because of all the little things and the small things we take for granted. And as Gabby powerfully sings out that ‘…this is as good as it gets, I don’t know what I would change, I love this life that we live, I love that smile on your face, no, we ain’t gotta look back at all those pictures in frames and wish it’d all stay the same, ’cause right here, right now I say, “These are the glory days”…’; we are encouraged to look past our circumstances and situations that we might feel like we haven’t overcome yet, and instead dwell upon the good things and everything God has done for us.

What more can I say about Gabby Barrett? Her intense passion for Jesus and for life in general, is extremely contagious, as is her joy and overall happiness. There’s something special about these four new melodies, and Gabby’s maturity as a singer and a songwriter continues to grow and grow. So go ahead and listen to this new song. Buy a physical copy of the deluxe edition of Goldmine (and keep the standard version); that’s how impacting and inspiring I reckon Gabby is and will be in the coming weeks and months and years. Well done, Gabby, for this album and also for this new single; I can’t wait for studio album #2!

I wrote [‘Glory Days’] with a couple of friends and we’re just talking about all the life that I’ve kind of went through within the last couple years. I think it’s pretty abnormal to what normally happens at this age for certain people, 23, 2 kids, and all the things happening with music. And I’ve been married for four years. So normally those times when you’re in the trenches a little bit with kids and just the days are long, but the years feel fast. Those are the times that you look back on per se. And I just remember my parents kind of saying, oh, those are the glory days. Those are the good old days. And so I was like, well, I’m in my glory days right now.

Second album, hopefully the goal for that is to release it in the early fall. And I think this album is just next level in a way… I think it has a more just continual vein to it. It’s not kind of all over the place. I have to be very vulnerable about some of the subjects that are talked about. It’s very close to my heart in a different way than the first album was, for sure.

Score: 4.5/5

RIYL: Carrie Underwood, Maren Morris, Rascal Flatts, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Lauren Alaina