After releasing his “Wait In The Truck” collaboration with leading CMA Award nominee Lainey Wilson, HARDY is back with another banger, and it is bound to put another notch in his belt.
The country music artist has officially dropped his brand-new single “Jack” and he’s got a music video to go along with it.
This song finds HARDY playing the role of a character named Jack. But, there’s a twist. He’s not an actual person. Instead, he is the Tennessee brand of liquid courage known as Jack Daniel’s. Throughout the tune, HARDY serves up a message that he’s not trying to hurt anybody, but rather, he’s an old friend who sticks around to tempt those who need a little assistance from him.
“Don’t listen to momma / Hell I ain’t the devil / Ditch me when you wanna / But if you need a little,” the singer/songwriter sings throughout the chorus. “I can fix your problems, always got your back / I can make you famous, by the way, my name is Jack.”
Sonically, HARDY leans heavily into his rock side as he adds some variety, splicing guitar harmonics and electronics into the verses and adding a stretch of thrashing drums reminiscent of the sounds of rockstars Velvet Revolver, Myles Kennedy, and Puddle of Mudd. It’s a move that continues to make HARDY a trailblazer in a world where artists have been merging other genres into the country sound.
But, HARDY is not new to incorporating rock into his music. “JACK,” which digs deeper into the edge of HARDY, brings to mind a similar mood to what fans heard on previous tracks like “So Close” and “SOLD OUT.”
Interestingly, the 2022 ACM Songwriter of the Year shares that he actually wrote “JACK” a while before he released his hard-hitting single “SOLD OUT,” which reached the top spot on both the U.S. iTunes Rock Chart and Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs Chart.
“‘JACK’ was originally written before ‘SOLD OUT,’ so it kind of got the ball rolling,” HARDY said in a press release of the Joey Moi-produced track. “I love the story it tells – it’s got some deep undertones about alcohol and how it can have a strong grip on people and can really bring you down.”
“I hope people can kind of read through that lyric and understand it,” he continues. “It rocks, and I’m excited for the world to hear it.”
As for the accompanying video, HARDY, backed by a full band, shows his skills on guitar as he delivers his storytelling abilities in the form of lyrics to viewers. The Justin Clough-directed clip is shown in black and white, which provides a fitting mood for the song’s subject content. Toward the end of the video, HARDY and his bandmates get crazy and lose control, breaking instruments in a room full of flickering lights.
“I’m a huge rock ’n’ roll fan,” HARDY summarizes. “That genre has so much to do with the way that I create music.”
Be sure to catch the video for “Jack” in the clip above.
Additionally, HARDY will soon wrap up his trek as support on Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous Tour and will hit the road later this year on his record-breaking headlining Wall To Wall Tour. The Wall To Wall Tour features support from Jackson Dean and “Blurry” hitmakers Puddle Of Mudd will also serve as support on the Columbia, South Carolina date of the tour.
