For someone who had enough confidence to literally name a band after himself, Zac Brown is going through a major identity crisis on Zac Brown Band’s fourth studio album.

The first third of the album alone feels like a polarising mixtape – there’s the Avicii-inspired country/EDM hybrid ‘Beautiful Drug’, the good-ole-boy retread of ‘Homegrown’ and an inexplicable Michael BublО homage in the form of the execrable ‘Mango Tree’. Things get back on track with the jamming ‘Heavy Is The Head’, which brings in Chris Cornell to deliver a Superunknown-worthy hook, but it’s derailed again just as quickly with the Auto-Tuned Eurotrash of ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’.

At the very least, the title is reflective of the album’s nature – although, while it was probably meant as a playful nod to the record’s versatility, it’s more accurate on account of said diversity bordering on flat-out terrifying. At this stage in their career, perhaps it’s worth re-evaluating the Band’s strengths and weaknesses – just so the “piece of land out in the countryside” sung about in ‘Homegrown’ is a viable place to live, rather than a boast of wealth.

Jekyll + Hyde isolates original fans without any guarantee there will be new ones on the other side.

Jekyll + HydebyZac Brown Bandis out on Big Machine/Universal.

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