Thomas Rhett is gearing up to release his forthcoming new album, Where We Started.
Last year, the country superstar announced that he is releasing two albums in 2022, including Country Again: Side B and Where We Started. “So last year and this year on the road me and my team have been writing so many songs. What we’ve decided to do is to put out two albums next year, which is going to be awesome,” Thomas shared at the time. ”
Well, on Friday (Jan. 14), the country hitmaker shared the details for the first project he is dropping this year, which is his sixth studio album, Where We Started. Thomas revealed that the album will be out on April 1.
The upcoming project boasts of 15-tracks and will feature his current single, “Slow Down Summer.”
He previously shared that Country Again: Side B would be out in the fall of this year.
We compiled a list of 10 fun facts about the album below.
Where We Started Is Thomas’ Sixth Studio Album
The upcoming new album, which will be released on April 1, follows Thomas’ latest projects, Country Again: Side A and Center Point Road.
The New Album Wasn’t Planned, It Just Sorta Happened
“I think I’ve learned to kind of roll with the punches over the last five years. I think if you, if you’ve looked at my social media over the last couple of years, I’ve been writing so much with so many different people and getting to travel to New York and LA and bring some of those people into Nashville,” Thomas shared.
Thomas continued, “Over the last couple of years, I’ve written a lot, like 150-200 songs. And, and every time we get in the studio, we’re like, what are we gonna do with all these songs? Because, so many of them hold such a special place in my heart. And after Country Again: Side A was complete. Obviously, you know, the normal thing to do would be like, okay, Country Again: Side B is gonna come out next. And as we started working on that record, I wrote this one song called ‘Where We Started’ with some good friends of mine named John Bellion, Ashley Gorley and Jesse Fraser.”
After “When We Started” came to fruition, Thomas says “a lot of other song kind of followed suit with it” and after getting in the studio to record the song, the project started “becoming a different project” and not what Thomas thought he “wanted Country Again: Side B to be.”
“This album seemed to be such a great middle ground between the two,” Thomas said. “Very versatile, I feel like this record has a song literally for everybody on there.”
This Is The First Of Two Albums That Thomas Will Be Releasing In 2022
Following the release of Where We Started, Thomas is planning to release the second part of his Country Again: Side A project later this year. The second portion of the project will be aptly title Country Again: Side B.
Thomas’ Dad Rhett Akins Wrote 5 Tracks On The Project
“He is one of my favorite co-writers…” Thomas said of his father Rhett Akins. “Not only is he a great friend and co-writer, but just a great advice giver, and he can actually speak from personal experience. And so most of the time when we write we’re on the road. In 2019, my dad opened for me. So we were with each other for 55 shows, and we’d get up at 11 a.m. and write songs until meet and greet and then do it again after show.
“One of the coolest memories of my dad, I think that I’ll have forever is getting to actually tour with him and write the majority of Country Again: Side A together,” he added. “We wrote probably five or six on this album. And it’s just amazing that we still can do that together and also have success with it. It’s also a pretty big blessing to be able to have that relationship with my dad.”
Features Three Duets
The country hitmaker teamed up with Riley Green for “Half Of Me,” Tyler Hubbard and Russell Dickerson joined Thomas for “Death Row,” and Katy Perry appears as his duet partner on the album’s title track.
Katy Perry Shocked Thomas When She Agreed To Join Him On “Where We Started” Duet
“Having Katy Perry featured on this was mind-blowing to me,” he shared. “Alison Jones at the label sent it to her, and she was immediately like, ‘When do I put my vocal on it?’ I’m sitting there going, ‘Really?’ I’ve always been such a fan of hers. To have her on here really escalated the emotion of that track. It’s a song I think a lot of people are going to relate to and a lot of people are really going to enjoy.”
Thomas Co-Wrote All But One Track On The Album
Thomas co-wrote all but one song on the new project.
He recently shared that the album is “extremely well written” and that the songs were penned “from a place of severe honesty.”
“Death Row” Is Based On A True Story
Earlier this year, Thomas shared that an upcoming song on his new album called “Death Row” was based on a true story of when he, Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Russell Dickerson went to visit a men’s prison in 2020.
“This song was written from a true experience between me and Tyler Hubbard and Russell [Dickerson]. We actually went to a men’s prison here in Nashville last Christmas to play some songs for people that were on death row,” the singer revealed. “This ministry does this a couple times a year. And I don’t know, our hearts and our brains were just kind of confused and rocked. And the next week I went to write with Ashley [Gorley] and Zach Crowell. And I said, well, I’ve got a really strange song title for y’all, and it’s called ‘Death Row.’ We literally just explained our experience at the prison in a song. And it just felt like something that needed to be said.”
The Project Was Inspired By His Fans Energy
While Country Again: Side A was more of a laid back country project, Thomas admits that Where We Started will be more “versatile” and was inspired by his fan’s energy.
“When I was writing Side A, I really didn’t have any context of anything. There were no shows Every show that I was doing was on Zoom, not really getting any feedback from people that were at a show except for social media comments,” Thomas explained. “And so, I kinda was stuck in my studio down here in my basement and wrote songs about what I was feelin’.”
He continued, “then, Country Again: Side A got released, and we went and played those five shows in Billy Bob’s, and I was like, dang, people have not forgotten how to party. And I remember leaving the stage that day, and I was like, man, we need to get back in the studio and record some things that I feel like are gonna make people wanna move and make people wanna jump and make people wanna throw their hands up in the air. And so I started kinda started writin’ from a different perspective of kinda having that audience back in front of my face, and this record called Where We Started kinda was the product of that.”
Thomas Says The Album Will Be An “Emotional Rollercoaster” For Fans
The chart-topping singer/songwriter says the new project will be an “emotional roller coaster” for fans.
“I like to make you cry, but then I immediately like to make you smile. And once you smile, I want you to dance. And once you dance, I want you to cry again,” he shared.
Thomas Rhett’s Where We Started Track List
1. “The Hill” | Lori McKenna, Jordan Reynolds, Emily Weisband
2. “Church Boots” | Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Ernest Keith Smith
3. “Bass Pro Hat” | Thomas Rhett, Matt Dragstrem, Joshua Miller, Josh Thompson
4. “Anything Cold” | Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Shane McAnally
5. “Angels” | Thomas Rhett, Julian Bunetta, Jaten Dimsdale, Josh Thompson
6. “Half Of Me” (featuring Riley Green) | Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Will Bundy, Josh Thompson
7. “Bring The Bar” | Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Parker Welling
8. “Paradise” | Thomas Rhett, Matt Dragstrem, Ernest Keith Smith, Josh Thompson
9. “Death Row” (featuring Tyler Hubbard, Russell Dickerson) | Thomas Rhett, Zach Crowell, Ashley Gorley
10. “Mama’s Front Door” | Thomas Rhett, Matt Dragstrem, Ashley Gorley, Chase McGill
11. “Slow Down Summer” | Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Sean Douglas, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley
12. “Simple As A Song” | Thomas Rhett, Luke Laird, Josh Thompson
13. “Us Someday” | Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, Amy Wadge
14. “Somebody Like Me” | Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Matt Dragstrem, Josh Thompson
15. “Where We Started (with Katy Perry) | Thomas Rhett, Jon Bellion, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley
