Brad Cox writes country songs that update timeless themes with bracing, rock-influenced production. The Jindabyne native was still in his early twenties when he released his self-titled 2018 debut album, singing openly about youthful boozing on “Too Drunk to Five” while also showcasing his romantic potential on the largely acoustic ballad “Lake House.” Cox has equally developed both of those sides since then, earning a well-deserved breakthrough with 2019’s “Give Me Tonight”—a slow then surging plea for the subject to take a spontaneous gamble on him—before celebrating the evergreen escape of 2023’s “Beer and Fishin’.” Taken from his third album, Acres, the latter adds a generous dollop of roadhouse blues before hitting exactly the kind of radio-ready chorus that Cox has learned to wrangle so well. Just as punchy is “Now She Ain’t,” a bar-set tale of a woman who has firmly decided to leave heartbreak behind. And with 2024’s “Everything I’ve Got,” Cox savors lyrical revenge after being wronged—just as thundering stabs of heartland rock drive home the song’s relatable message of self-empowerment.