Dierks Bentley’s New Song “Off The Map” Just Might Be One Of The Best Of His Country Music Career

Country music star Dierks Bentley released his 11th studio album Broken Branches earlier today, and forgive me for this horrible pun, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that the project might possess one of the best songs of Dierks’ entire career

The reflective new album meets Bentley where he currently is – exploring life’s outlier moments and bravely cherishing the fact that we’re all broken branches on a family tree. Songs like the title track and “For As Long As I Can Remember” explore that theme, while other tracks like “Cold Beer Can” (his collaboration with Stephen Wilson Jr.) and “She Hates Me” present Dierks’ signature blending of heartfelt and humor.

There are a number of songs on the new record worth singling out (“Never You” with Miranda Lambert would certainly like a word), but the one that has stood out to me thus far is the track that comes in at number eight on the track list: “Off The Map.”

I was fortunate enough to see Dierks Bentley play the new song during his recent “Dinner in the Creek” event, and there was something special about hearing the song highlighting the feeling of being off the map in a place that one could ironically describe as off the map:

@whiskeyriff New album Friday. @dierksbentley #whiskeyriff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff

Upon first listen, you might not think that this song has the power and allure to compete with some of Bentley’s prior No. 1 hits like “Drunk on a Plane” and “What Was I Thinkin’.” And to be clear, “Off The Map” probably won’t rocket to the top spot on the country music charts in the coming weeks. But a song being a career best and being a smash, radio hit are not mutually exclusive.

“Off The Map” sits in the idea that getting away from everything and unplugging is often associated with physically being somewhere away from civilization. Dierks – and the writers that brought the song to life (Jeremy Bussey, Lauren McLamb and Adam Wood) – argue that “Off The Map” moments can happen anywhere and everywhere you want them to… or need them to.

As the chorus so elegantly explains:

“Might be on a barstool sipping something cold
Might be on a back porch off a backroad
Might be in an airstream, might be in the gulf stream
Might be in a daydream, who the hell knows?

Laid up in a beach chair, laid up on my couch
Somewhere by my lonesome, somewhere in a crowd
If you can’t find me, I ain’t lost
Sometimes life’s just better off the map.”

For an artist that’s been in the country music machine for over two decades, it only makes sense for Dierks to voice his desire to escape from time to time. And everything about the song is a perfect storm that typically makes for a timeless classic. The wordplay. The relaxed rhythm. The relatability. Call it recency bias, but I genuinely think it’s up there with some of Bentley’s best work.

Was it released as a single ahead of the album’s release? Nope. Is their a little star beside it on music streaming services to let you know it’s one of the project’s highlights? Negative. But as I’ve pleaded, those things don’t always directly relate to success. Sometimes the triumph of an album is in its ability to be revisited years down the road, and for my money, “Off The Map” is the one that I’ll always go back to with Dierks Bentley’s Broken Branches record.

Take a listen:

Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Dierks Bentley will be joining the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast sooner rather than later (his episode drops on June 17th). Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for that upcoming interview to hear even more from the “I Hold On” singer about his latest country music masterpiece.The post Dierks Bentley’s New Song “Off The Map” Just Might Be One Of The Best Of His Country Music Career first appeared on Whiskey Riff.