Brothers Osborne find new freedom, increased artistic vitality on new album

The Brothers Osborne's latest, self-titled album arrives with six Academy of Country Music awards, five Country Music Association awards and a 2022 Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance filling their mantles.

As well, TJ and John Osborne are equally renowned for having their private acceptance of their sexuality and battles with mental health, respectively, as revealed and applauded parts of their emboldened realities.

"Groundbreaking" sonic work is commonplace for the duo, but as John Osborne tells The Tennessean, working with multi-faceted genre-bending production auteur Mike Elizondo afforded them the ability to delve into 80's rock-ready vibes while maintaining the tandem's almost textbook-style knowledge of four decades of mainstream country's pop-friendly progressions.

"Art reflects life," says John Osborne to The Tennessean, launching into a longer statement about working with his brother as a collaborator in a season of their lives reflecting unprecedented artistic and personal vitality. The band will play Ascend Amphitheatre Saturday, Oct. 7.

"Confidence and strength to dig deeper" is one of the great benefits that both members of the Brothers Osborne felt heading into their latest project.

TJ Osborne tells The Tennessean that he and his brother's latest work reflects the first time that he's been "100 percent able" to "focus all of his energy" in a "fresh and unrestrained" recording process.

For John Osborne, a rising sense of musical leadership in the genre — insofar as joining a rarefied class of singer-songwriters with peerless control of the guitar's soulful register — is apparent here.

Evolving from a grunge-adoring teen to an instrumentalist cycling through influences including Eric Clapton, Lightning Hopkins, B.B. King, Freddie King and Hank Williams, he's now arrived at a style that he describes as "the best way for [him] to articulate his emotions."

The album's lead single, "Nobody's Nobody," ("it takes all kinds of kinds to make this world go around," sings TJ Osborne) continues preaching the message of broad acceptance highlighted in 2021's "I'm Not For Everyone."

The duo's desire to, as they told Apple Music Radio, to "not [know] when to keep our mouths shut," expands via their latest release.

John believes that a rare moment of country music's fans and industry joining in "love and acceptance" of the realities of his and his brother TJ's lives gave them the courage and license to "try anything and get away with it."

The broad scope of what that statement means includes having Academy of Country Music Triple Crown Award-winner Miranda Lambert appearing as a songwriter and background vocalist on "We Ain't Good At Breaking Up," a steamy country ballad she penned with the brothers and Jesse Frasure.

"One of the greatest artists in country music history is also an incredibly humble co-writer and contributor," stated John Osborne.

TJ adds that because the song started as a joke about his relationship with longtime partner Abi Ventura, it revealed a more "creative, fun and lighthearted" side to his performance style that hasn't been seen much in his nearly decade-long run in Music City.

Seductive vibes and heightened artistic freedom combined to color the recording of the album track "New Bad Habit."

TJ's existing ability to take his near-baritone tenor into the realm of Kenny Rogers-style romance delves deeper than ever in the song.

Co-written with Lee Thomas Miller (co-writer of Jamey Johnson's legendary "In Color"), the bluesy song features what John Osborne calls a "swagger-filled low vocal about relationship experiences."

If looking for the Brothers Osborne's roots in rural, working-class Deale, Maryland, they're present on the album, too.

"Back Home" is described by John Osborne as an "anchoring, hometown anthem" that revives and renews their connection to country music's traditional values, though so much of the act feels bathed in what a press release refers to as being "the faces of the new generation of Nashville."

"Nashville changes by the second," says John Osborne. "Who we are and where we're from doesn't change, though."

Album closer "Rollercoaster (Forever And A Day)" exemplifies the next step for the Brothers Osborne. TJ Osborne's vocals' fullness shines brighter than ever on the piano-driven torch song.

"Sometimes we have to get emotional, raw and real about how much love sucks," says John Osborne about the track.

"Getting to a place where we can make songs that aren't so driven by radio-ready acceptance is important," adds TJ Osborne.

"Some songs we make will be potentially more significant than that."

Nearly ten years into now personally and professionally unobstructed Nashville success, John Osborne's thoughts about where he and his brother's latest album allows them to arrive as a superstar act is noteworthy.

"Music that comes from a genuine place is creativity at its most valid expression -- without right, wrong, up or down. Making uniquely human art from a subjective perspective allows audiences to hold their favorite performers accountable for always being their most authentic selves."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Brothers Osborne find new freedom ahead of Nashville show