Dylan Gossett’s debut album opens with a prayer. With minimal accompaniment, the Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter wonders if he’s too far gone on the LP’s old-timey opening track, pairing gospel-tinged harmonies with rootsy guitar to dramatic effect as he asks, “Lord, will you carry me?” Only a minute and a half long, the song sets the tone for the searching and heartfelt album, which Gossett wrote and produced himself. That tune leads into “Hangin’ On”, a bright and buoyant folk-rocker reminiscent of early Mumford & Sons with its quick-strummed rhythm guitar and anthemic feel. The road song “American Trail” dips into newgrass, complete with banjo, fiddle, mandolin and multi-part vocal harmonies, a sound that differentiates Gossett from peers like Zach Bryan. And the album, of course, features one of Gossett’s biggest hits, the stripped-down and vulnerable “Coal”, on which he wonders if the pressures of life will ever bring forth growth. On this deluxe edition, Gossett adds three new tracks, starting with an alternate version of “American Trail” featuring quickly rising Canadian singer-songwriter Noeline Hofmann. Gossett tells Apple Music he’d hoped to work with Hofmann on the project, saying she is “one of the best songwriters out there right now”. Kentucky country rockers Ole 60 join Gossett on a new take on “Back 40”, fleshing out the song with harmonies and additional instrumentation. Gossett closes out the expanded album with the new song “Windy City”, a sweet and spare ballad about connecting with people through music. Below, Gossett shares insight into the deluxe edition tracks. “American Trail” (feat. Noeline Hofmann) “I think Noeline Hofmann is one of the best songwriters there is right now. I think she’s incredible. We connected and I sent her this song and I was like, ‘Listen, no pressure. I think you would sound great on it. If you want to do it, that’s awesome.’ I’m just a huge fan, if anything. And then on a plane, I think, she told me, the first time ever hearing the song, she just wrote that verse. Just craziness. And I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s it. That just sounds great. It’s such a perfect part for it.’ And then the harmonies and everything that she does on it, it’s incredible. So she flew down to Austin and recorded that part, and we became really, really good friends.” “Back 40” (feat. Ole 60) “The dudes just rip. And they’re great guys, they make great music, and I just wanted to be in collaboration with them. We have a history of touring together, and I just thought the song would be perfect for them and for [lead singer] Jacob [Young] and his voice and everything like that. Put some pedal steel on it, too, and it was really cool.” “Windy City” “We had a big realisation in Chicago, and that’s kind of why I talked about the Windy City. It’s just talking about everywhere, about how this music has been so powerful and how it’s been in my life, just how it goes everywhere. And the fact that people are listening to our music and watching our shows, buying tickets in Australia and in London and Chicago and Los Angeles, not even where I’m from. I would understand Austin, but going and seeing people across the world singing these songs, it’s like, if people are doing that, then we’re doing all right. Our music’s making an impact.”