Dylan Gossett goes ‘Westward’ for first deluxe album

By Benjamin Shinault

Texas native Dylan Gossett has been laying low and making his way up the country charts since the very beginning. Since releasing his first single in 2023, Gossett has seen his career explode and has reached over four million monthly listeners on Spotify. 

On Oct. 24, Gossett released a deluxe version of his first studio album, “Westward.” The 20-song album is composed of songs reminiscing the past, settling down and finding love and cultivating inner strength. The thoughtful and poetic lyrics are accompanied by acoustic guitar, raw vocals and the occasional riff of an electric guitar.

The first song of the album is titled, “Lord Will You Carry Me.” The song is religious and features no instruments with only Gossett’s voice and some background singers coming in toward the tail end. At the end, there is a single strum of an acoustic guitar that serves as the perfect transition into a more upbeat song in “Hangin’ On.”

“Hangin’ On” features a kick drum, a wicked banjo feature and quick acoustics that includes lyrics based on love; a common theme that can be found as the album progresses. 

“Cicada Choir,” the third song, is another track that feels like home. Gossett sings of finding love and settling down. It brings in beautiful country scenery with lyrics like, “That’s all you need love when you want some peace of mind // It’s just you and me and the dog and the singing cicada choir.” 

These lyrics put me in a state of mind of rocking on the porch on a humid summer night and listening to the cicadas with the ones I love — Gossett captured this atmosphere perfectly.

In the next song, “American Trail,” which was released as a single on May 2, starts with a haunting banjo introduction and Gossett has some resonance to his voice. The song has themes of growing up and adjusting to life’s challenges. The lyrics, “So catch your breath, settle on in // Find out the hard way is the best way to win // Fall on down and count your sins // The American trail’s ‘bout to strike again,” is the perfect way to describe the early stages in adjusting to adult life.

“Snake Eyes,” the fifth song on the album, takes on a different theme. In my eyes, it takes a turn from themes of love toward those of betrayal. Snake eyes is a term that derives from card games and is considered the worst possible roll of the dice. In Gossett’s eyes, his relationship is failing as he rolled, “snake eyes.”

Gossett details this with the lyrics, “Don’t act like I’ve got nothing to lose // Don’t act like you don’t damn well know the truth // ‘Cause it ain’t just me, it always takes two // When I play the game, I’m sitting right across from you.” 

In the very next song, “Livin’ The Dream,” Gossett hops right into a more lighthearted song about finding love. The imagery in the short song is vivid and it transported me right into the car with Gossett when he is driving and taking in the sights.

“While the sun fills up the canyon like a shine filled sea // And the rocks are glowin’ red, a snapshot into my dreams.” Those lyrics are just a snippet of the great writing in the song.

The seventh song, my personal favorite out of the 20 songs, is “Sweet Lady.” This track is another song that Gossett used to tease his album, telling the story of balancing his love life and his life as a traveling singer. 

Another song that spoke to me was “Back 40.” I was able to see Gossett in concert last winter and this was one of the songs he teased and I got the chills immediately. The song has an electric guitar solo that was a pleasant surprise within an album that contains mostly acoustic guitar and banjo.

One other song that I put on my playlist and continued to play on repeat was “Tree Birds.” This song is more upbeat and seems out of place within an album that contains mostly softer melodies, but it was a breath of fresh air.

As a big Gossett fan, I was very pleased with the new album. I know country music and folk music is not too popular with the college crowd, but Gossett’s music is easy to listen to, simple to comprehend and is peaceful. Gossett is best paired with a rolled down window, a crisp fall breeze or sitting by a crackling campfire with loved ones.

Benjamin Shinault is a senior journalism major