Jay Buchanan - Weapons of Beauty

4.9

Rating

4.9/5

Flyctory.com Pros

Great storytelling
Very catching vocal performance

Jay Buchanan is a major name in the rock music business. After quite a discography with his band, he is turning solo and releases his solo debut album Weapons of Beauty on 6th February 2026. Here is my review.

Jay Buchanan – About The Artist

Jay Buchanan is known best as the singer of the Californias rock band Rival Sons. Jay is a founding member of the Long Beach quintet, which has been formed in 2008. The band is very popular in Europe and has released eight studio albums so far. Buchanan was born on 6th July 1975.

Jay Buchanan – Weapons of Beauty – Track by Track

The ten song album lasts 49 minutes.

1. Caroline

5:37 minutes – Jay Bzchanan’s solo debut record start with its second longest song. Caroline is one of the songs the artist has already released beforehand. The song is made for the heart – it is a lovely ballad and a touching love song. A heartwarming, epic listen.

Caroline
I’m gonna burn up
all my time.
Until the Lord
brings me back to you.

2. High and Lonesome

Weapons of Beauty maintains a slower pace with the second song, High and Lonesome. The song has much stronger Americana influences and also nicely works with a wider instrumental arrangement. Buchanan’s voice stays present, but the purely melodic parts are enjoyable as well.

3. True Black

The first more snappy and rhythmic song of the album is True Black. There is also a lot of power in this already released song. Again, the collaboration of instrumental and vocal parts feels to work out perfectly.

4. Tumbleweed

Tumbleweed is the longest track of Weapons of Beauty. The sound stays in line with the songs before. Calm, rather traditional country music welcome the listener, the drums are tootling a steady rhythm. The key catch of the song, however, is its beautiful storytelling.

Since they split from Tennessee
To make their way to California.
Keep pressure on the wound
Get to a doctor soon
You can win it all back.
We get lost
Along the way.

5. Shower of Roses

Organ sounds welcome the listener of Shower of Roses. A catchphrase of the song is already rather at the beginning. Buchannon asks How do you stay yourself while you play someone else?. Again, he is telling a beautiful story about a fading career and fading attention. It is simply beautiful listening to him during these five minutes.

6. Deep Swimming

Powerful, fast beats already tell you in the very first moments of this song, that Deep Swimming will have a different character. The melodies in here are more present, more elaborate. The faster speed of this track is also a nice variation. The song is definitely a nice moment of Americana rock on this album.

7. Sway

After this energetic experience, Sway is one of the slower and more thoughtful ones again. The song is a fine, almost fragile listen. The vocal performance by the Californian artist is absolutely catching. You simply enjoy feeling the struggle and emotions in here.

8. The Great Divide

The next song is The Great Divide. The song is a very present and intense one, even showing some flavors of blues rock. The eighth track of the album is leaving a mark in the listener’s mind. I absolutely enjoy listening to Buchanan in here again.

I’ll sing across
The great divide.
To you on the left
To you on the right.

9. Dance Me To The End of Love

In the penultimate song, the US artist asks to Dance Me To The End of Love. Likely, this song is the most universal one on the album. It comes with a nice presence and intensity, but still has this amazing storytelling of the album. The chorus is very catching as well.

10. Weapons of Beauty

Last, but not least, there is the title track. Kicking off with a piano intro, the song feels very direct, very personal. Weapons of Beauty closes the album in perfection.

Give me the songs
To sing in the fight
These weapons of beauty
Will destroy the night
That’s been so long.
Give me the words
I can say what I feel
And I speak this dream
For to make it real.

Jay Buchanan – Weapons of Beauty – Spotify

Here is Weapons of Beauty on Spotify:

Jay Buchanan – Weapons of Beauty – My View

I was really curious before my first listen about Weapons of Beauty. How would that album be. Jay Buchanan’s first walk on a solo path underlines his fantastic ability to share stories and to share messages. These stories sometimes simply don’t need too much backing from the instruments. And still, the compositions are beautiful.

Favorite Song: Tumbleweed

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