If you’re like me, “In Your Love” might be your first introduction to Tyler Childers. But it’s a welcome one. “In Your Love” is the first single from his upcoming album, Rustin’ In The Rain. It was released just a few days ago with a music video starring Colton Haynes and James Scully. While the song itself is fairly vague and gender neutral, the music video depicts a romance between two male coal miners in the 1950’s. Their occupation may not come as a surprise to those who are familiar with Tyler Childers and his music. Tyler was born in Kentucky and his father was a coal miner. Culture and industry in the Appalachian region, as well as the prevalent issues in those communities, are discussed and explored often in his music. So much so, that all the proceeds from his 2020 album, Long Violent History went directly to Childers' Hickman Holler Appalachian Relief Fund which supports underserved communities in the region. In the music video, we are offered a glimpse into some of the lethal consequences of coal mining including “black lung disease,” a disease that coal miners often develop overtime due to exposure and inhaling of coal dust. Furthermore, Tyler intentionally chose to depict a gay romance because he was inspired to do so by his gay cousin who also grew up in Kentucky, worked as a coal miner, and has had a very close relationship with Tyler. When describing the inspiration behind the music video, Childers (in reference to his cousin) said “He taught me so much about singing; he was my first tough critic. And just thinking about him not having a music video on CMT that spoke to him.” 

Both the music video and the story behind it are wonderful and inspiring. As incredible and important as those aspects of the track are, a really admirable trait of “In Your Love” is that it's a great song without them too. The track really stands on its own two legs, and only gets better with the addition of the music video. This song has classic Americana all over it with stunning balladry, powerful acoustics, and a recognizable structure. The song was co-produced by Tyler’s band, The Food Stamps as well as co-written by Kentucky author, Geno Seale. Tyler’s vocal performance is attention grabbing, gut-punching, seemingly effortless, and well textured. With doses of vibrato, the melodies prevalent in the track are pleasing and incredibly emotional. The lyrical content of the song is poignant and sentimental. Promises of grandeur and tattooable one-liners build its love story foundation. These lines include, “I will wait for you / 'Til the sun turns into ashes” and from the hook, “We were never made to run forever / We were just meant to go long enough / To find what we were chasing' after.”

“In Your Love” is a heart-warming and captivating leading single that in just a few days has racked up nearly 5 million streams on Spotify and 3 million views on YouTube. Given the content of the music video, it’s bound to rustle some feathers in the world of “traditional country” if it hasn’t already. Nonetheless, I am happy that Tyler Childers shared this story of love and compassion with us and I look forward to exploring more of his music.

Author: Jordan

Jordan Wisniewski is a passionate writer and Hip-Hop artist from North Carolina, US.