Wyatt Flores makes the minute feel monumental. The young, quickly rising singer-songwriter knows how to take a small detail and wring feeling out of it, like the image of “the smell of bacon grease and better years” in the homesick title track. An Oklahoman by birth and Mexican American by heritage, Flores brings a welcome fresh perspective to country music, with a stripped-down sound reminiscent of Tyler Childers or Zach Bryan. The heartbreak tune “Milwaukee” channels the stomp-and-clap sound of folk-rockers The Lumineers, with a hooky chorus tempered by downcast verses. Closer “Devil” finds Flores wrestling with self-worth and purpose. And on “Wish I Could Stay”, Flores takes note of the small but powerful moments that infuse life with meaning, a loose theme that runs through the entire project. “We're not supposed to have these moments like that for long spurts of time, because if we did, then we wouldn't appreciate them,” he says. “And that's where this project leads, is appreciating those moments that you do get. Because you're not going to get too many of them.” Below, Flores breaks down several key tracks. “Running Out of Time” “‘Running Out of Time’ is actually about three friends that I had lost in the year of 2022. And that was kind of like the eye-opener again. And I'd been to a lot of funerals before, and that's kind of what started these two projects is realising that life can be taken away from you at any point in time, and what are you going to do with it? And it's all right if you choose the easy route, but I think there's a great deal in questioning yourself on what you want and what are you willing to do to get it. Having the motivation of death sitting in the passenger seat and not looking at it as a bad thing.” “Half Life” “It was written off of fear of what I might do if I spent all my time trying to [pursue music] and I didn't actually take the time that I needed to for the people that deserve it. And that's kind of what happened. On one side of the fence, I was living life in the fast lane, [playing] shows and flying from one place to the next or driving across the entire country, and then the next thing you know, look up and things have changed and you haven't taken the time to be there for anything. And that's what sucks. I've been home for a week now, and in the first 24 hours of being back home, I find out seven of my friends are having kids. And I'm just like, ‘What in the world?’ And I am hoping that I don't miss out on that.” “Devil” “I went from nothing to everything and then to not feel like I deserve any of it. That entire song is just thoughts that roll around in my mind late at night, and I believe everyone has that. That's why the verses, they're not really telling a story. But that's why it's all over the place. ‘What makes me so goddamn special?’ It's just that breaking point of, why am I picked to do this? Because there is a lot of pressure, and sometimes that song reminds me that it's all right to just be me, and that it's all right to not be okay sometimes. But to remember that you are deserving, which is why that bridge is powerful.”