South Dakota-born and Nashville-honed, Tyler Halverson has quietly been carving out his own corner of the modern outlaw landscape, earning a place on Rolling Stone’s Outlaw Artists to Watch for 2025 along the way. His new album, ‘In Defense of Drinking,' arrives February 13 via CMDSHFT and immediately plants its flag as a rough-edged, road-worn statement. Built on barroom stomps and unguarded reflections on life in motion, the record balances swagger and self-awareness, capturing Halverson as both a sometime heartbreaker and a deeply honest storyteller.
That duality runs through the album’s DNA. Raised between sale barns and skate parks in South Dakota, Halverson’s worldview was shaped as much by Merle Haggard as it was by Mac Miller and Drake, a collision of influences that gives his music its grit and elasticity. Recorded at Amber Sound in Hermitage, Tennessee, and produced by Halverson alongside Ryan Youmans and Muscadine Bloodline’s Gary Stanton, ‘In Defense of Drinking' pushes further into alt-country territory while building on the foundation of 2024’s ‘Western Amerijuana.' Songs about self-inflicted heartbreak, quiet self-medication and the search for redemption unfold with a distinctly Western mood, revealing an artist unafraid to sit with his flaws and let the songs do the talking.
Tyler Halverson knows exactly who he is on In Defense of Drinking, even when he doesn’t particularly like the reflection staring back at him. The album is a bracingly honest snapshot of a life spent on the road, built from mistakes, broken hearts and the kind of self-awareness most artists only circle around. Rather than sanding down his rough edges, Halverson leans into them, delivering a record that feels lived-in, conflicted and deeply human. As he puts it himself, “It’s been a life spent falling in and out of love and finding something to write about, at the expense of your heart and somebody else’s.” That tension between pride and regret fuels every corner of this album.
That refusal to prettify the truth sets Halverson apart in a Nashville scene he openly describes as “so pretty and polished.” There’s an unmistakable alt-country edge running through ‘In Defense of Drinking,' especially on its opening statement, ‘More Hearts Than Horses.' Built on a galloping rhythm that mirrors the movement of horses themselves, the track explodes into a darker Western chorus, complete with haunting pedal steel and an anchoring harmonica solo that plants it firmly in Texas soil. “If you come walking my way, I’ll send you running someday,” Halverson warns, fully aware of his own flaws. It’s a self-aware, unrepentant opener that immediately establishes the album’s emotional stakes.
That reckoning continues with ‘Beer Garden Baby,' a reimagined version of one of Halverson’s earliest fan favorites, now reborn as a duet with Parker McCollum. Funky, loose and drenched in Texas swagger, it captures the freedom of long nights, cold drinks and the temporary escape of rodeo beer gardens. The jaunty rhythm and wheezing harmonica even hint at a Springsteen-like sense of barroom camaraderie, turning the song into a celebration of fleeting joy rather than something weighed down by consequence. It’s a reminder that for all the introspection on this record, Halverson still knows how to have a good time.
The album’s quieter moments are just as compelling. On ‘8 Second High,' Halverson strips everything back to an acoustic-driven ballad that pulls the curtain away from the romanticism of rodeo life. “Where the world stands still under bright white lights… all you wanna do is ride the 8 second high,” he sings, capturing both the thrill and the addiction of that world. It’s raw, restrained and steeped in longing, offering a stark portrait of people clinging to brief moments of glory at great personal cost. That same emotional clarity carries into ‘Ft. Worth Losing You,' arguably the album’s strongest track.
‘Ft. Worth Losing You' finds Halverson leaning fully into his failures, sketching out a dark, catchy tale of a night in Fort Worth that quietly destroyed a relationship. “You can’t undo what I gone done did,” he admits, before adding, “If you see her tell her for me, it’s not enough to say sorry.” Driven by pounding percussion and gritty Western guitar tones, the song manages to be radio-ready and deeply uncomfortable at the same time. That tension makes it feel fresh, honest and impossible to shake, a modern outlaw anthem built on accountability rather than bravado.
Midway through the record, the mood softens again with ‘Smoke You Out,' a hazy, weed-tinged ballad that trades regret for vulnerability. Over gentle acoustic guitar and a soulful fiddle outro, Halverson lays his cards on the table with a stoned simplicity: “Backseat with the windows, what do you say, I smoke you out?” It’s intimate and dislocated in the best way, capturing the quiet honesty of late-night conversations and unspoken hopes. The title track, ‘In Defense of Drinking,'follows with even greater emotional weight, as Halverson refuses to blame whiskey for his worst moments. “Whiskey didn’t make me say those hurtful things I said,” he confesses, laying bare a level of accountability that gives the album its spine.
The Western imagery deepens on ‘Like the Rodeo,' a rich, prairie-soaked duet with Wade Forster that draws parallels between two restless souls chasing different dreams. “Could she ever love me like the rodeo?” Halverson asks, as fiddle and sparse instrumentation create a wide-open sense of space. That longing for something more settled surfaces again on ‘Cowboy Babies,' one of the album’s warmest moments. Singing about a girl who wants “cows and cowboy babies,” Halverson sounds genuinely hopeful, admitting, “I’ve done hitched my heart to crazy,” with a grin you can hear through the speakers. It’s a rare glimpse of optimism nestled among the album’s heavier reflections.
By the time the record closes with ‘Son Brother Believer,' Halverson has come full circle. The gentle, hymn-like closer finds him questioning why God would even bother with someone who’s spent so much time drinking, drugging and loving recklessly. A plaintive harmonica solo brings a touch of ‘Nebraska'-era Springsteen as he searches for redemption and better days ahead. ‘In Defense of Drinking' doesn’t offer easy answers, but it doesn’t need to. Instead, it captures an artist wrestling honestly with who he’s been and who he wants to become, proving that conflict, when faced head-on, can be the most powerful storytelling tool of all.
Tracklist: 1. More Hearts Than Horses 2. Beer Garden ft. Parker McCollum 3. 8 Second High 4. Ft. Worth Losing 5. Smoke You Out 6. In Defense of Drinking 7. Like The Rodeo ft. Wade Forster 8. Cowboy Babies 9. Old Men Younger Women 10. The Dreamer 11. Son Brother Believer Release Day: February 13th Record Label: CMDSHFT Buy ‘In Defense of Drinking' right here
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