It’s been three years since Americana singer-songwriter Dustin Massey finally made his own way into a scene he’d been celebrating from the sidelines for years. With the release of his debut album Matter of Time, the rabid fan of Fort Worth country suddenly found himself at its vanguard. Things had settled musically for him a bit since that initial burst — major life events like getting married and the loss of his father taking precedence — but earlier this summer, Massey released his first new music since 2021’s Time.
The single “Always Been This Way” hit streaming platforms in May. Last week, he followed it up with another single, “Heart with a Hole.” The pair preview the EP Swim or Sink due in August and are an instant reminder of why Massey deserves a place in the scene he loves so much.
“Always Been This Way” is a hook-laden rocker that balances some serious self-reflection with a healthy dose of whimsy. In Massey’s words, it “reflects on the internal struggle to let go and move on. Often, it is the realization that we are in fact a part of the problem that liberates us from holding on to the past.”
He begins with a choppy acoustic guitar line, singing, “Lying in bed, hardly sleeping / Staring a hole through the ceiling” before adding a falsetto trill to the line “Gonna find a shooting star,” which lends an unexpected Rob Thomas-ian twist to the melody before Massey’s stellar backing band (guitarist Shane Hudson, bassist Cameron Moreland, drummer Nathan Ziehm) crack into the main groove of the verse. A nice key change at the bridge slams into an anthemic sing-along chorus.
Massey said, “The upbeat vibe of the song is to symbolize the hope for the future once we have this realization.”
Though inarguably Americana in its delivery, the track could have been comfortably included in the catalogs of the likes of Matchbox Twenty or Third Eye Blind. Some of the slick radio-friendly sheen is owed to producer Josh Serrato (Koe Wetzel), who, along with offering additional guitar and keys, recorded and mixed the tracks at Melody Mountain Studios in Stephenville, plus the mastering of Brian Lucey of Magic Garden Studios. The infectious earworm quality is no doubt responsible for the thousands of streams and inclusions on curated playlists the song has earned in just over a month, despite no current radio support.
Though out for only about a week, “Heart with a Hole” is gaining ground on the impressive play count of his first. Upon listening, it becomes obvious why. Though every bit as infectious, the tone is quite different. In some ways, “Heart” is a complimentary piece to “Always.” Where the latter is uplifting and hopeful, the former takes its namesake in rough unseen hands and squeezes it hard.
A gentle 3/4-waltzing acoustic picks through the chords as Massey’s vocals come in with a newfound earnestness carried by a barely perceptible rasp in his voice. He sings plaintively of drinking too much as a way of coping with pain and the self-awareness and shame that come from knowing you are and that you shouldn’t be. “Heart” is a song informed by the grief over the recent loss of his father. It’s a document of pain and helplessness and “how it can be easy to slip into a dark, self-destructive place.”
Despite the chorus’ melancholy refrain of “There ain’t no cure for a heart with a hole,” the tenderness and vulnerability in the track are, in fact, therapeutic. Not only for the listener but for Massey as well.
“Somehow writing about this was healing for me and kept me from going there myself after my father passed,” he said.
With the tracks gaining listens despite a lack of radio support or the backing of a label (Massey credits manager Ryan Kleine at Gold Towne Music for help with these early successes), both are sure to create anticipation for the August release of Swim or Sink. If these two songs are indicative of what’s to come, our patience will be handsomely rewarded.
