About Must Be the Whiskey

cody jinks is never one for pretense, but he cuts to the quick on moody slow-burner "must be the whiskey," the no-nonsense new single from his just announced lp, lifers. the first song to receive an official release from lifers – the eighth album from the thrash-metal singer turned indie-country outlaw – chugs along with a martial, and somewhat sinister, focus. "i got i love you on my mind, i got jim beam on my breath," jinks sings with seemingly clear-eyed honesty — or least self-laceration — as he tries to assess how he landed his latest relationship on the rocks. yet his own admissions of drunkenness undercut the very idea that hes as in-love as he thinks he is in the first place. though "must be the whiskey" is the lead track to be premiered from lifers, its not the first of the albums songs to make the rounds. over the winter, a live rendition of another also surfaced, "cant quit enough," an uptempo, boot-scooting boogie that set a very different tone from its counterpart. theres a thread between the pair, though, as "cant quit enough," an ode to the working-class musician, shares a blue-collar sensibility with "must be the whiskey," for better and – in the case of the latter song – for worse.