Wyatt Flores Scared of Heights
In the two years I’ve covered Wyatt Flores – since his unforgettable coming-out performance at BMI’s annual AmericanaFest opener, Rooftop on the Row – he’s lived a life that many would envy, but almost none would understand. While his first full-length, 2024’s Welcome to the Plains, came from the perspective of a young man who’d rarely ventured beyond Oklahoma, Flores’ second studio album, Scared of Heights, arrives as he finds himself in a vastly different spot – a world traveler, returning home to assess how much a man’s life can change in two years, and what that means to the ones he’s left behind.
The concept behind Scared of Heights isn’t so much about being afraid of achieving as a fear of fucking up – is success (a measure of which Flores has definitely met) worth the risk of losing what he already has? Maybe the biggest loss Flores experienced was the end of a relationship, a topic which shows up across the record. The first track, “Hate Myself” is a mandolin-laced self-impugnment – “I know it ain’t your fault/So I take it out on me” about a break-up that occurs simply because it’s time – “I can’t get mad/I can’t get even/I’m the one who did the leavin’.” As Flores is starting to realize, it’s the kind of thing that happens when you start to grow up. Flores also discusses the type of self-destructive behavior that can follow a break-up in a couple of tracks. “Sober for a Month” is a week-by-week chronicle of a misplaced effort at putin’ down the bottle which, predictably, doesn’t end well – “Didn’t take long to see you’d never be the one/All I had to be was sober for a month.” And the ballad “Tulsa & Eleanor” has the singer doubling down on that choice – “And she said that she would stay/If I would pour it down the drain/But I poured one more.”
Once the relationship wreckage is dispensed with, Flores has time to look at what’s left, as well as what’s ahead. The title track is an airy ode to acknowledging fear – “So please don’t get too close/It’s when I close the door.” The record’s most affecting tune, “Half the Man,” is a wistful, mandolin-flecked look at what happens when you compare yourself to the incomparable, your steadfast parents – “Every conversation makes me feel like I’m still a child/She says, ‘It’s funny how you show your face every other holiday/But when they put Grandpa into his grave you were a thousand miles away.’” Every generation moves at a faster pace, but even outsized success is no match for a parental guilt trip. But the fog lifts in the upbeat, organ-spiked rocker, “South Dakota.” One of the underrated parts of our country gets a shout-out as Flores starts to move on – “Just a week ago I thought I had plans/Now where she is is where I wanna be.” It’s a place, and a time in his life, where he’s not looking for his Next Big Thing. But, like the listeners on that Nashville rooftop two years ago, he may have found it.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Drive All Night” – a slinky slice of country-pop (with some excellent fiddle) that has Flores ticking off miles to the next time zone – “I can hardly wait, and I’ll be there in a couple of states.”
Scared of Heights was produced by Charlie Handsome, Gian Stone and Jacob Kasher Hindlin.
Go here to order Scared of Heights (out July 31): https://merch.wyattfloresmusic.com/
Check out tour dates here: https://www.wyattfloresmusic.com/tour/#/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Wyatt Flores “Welcome to the Plains”
Musicians on the album are Wyatt Flores on vocals and background vocals; Charlie Handsome on electric guitar and background vocals; Gian Stone on programming and background vocals; Fred Eltringham on drums; Jimmie Lee Sloas on bass; Bryan Sutton on acoustic guitar and mandolin; Tom Bukovac on electric guitar; J. Spivey on fiddle; and Alex Wright on keyboards and synthesizer.