Four-time GRAMMY Award-winner Keith Urban has some brand-new tunes on the horizon, beginning with the release of “Straight Line” on February 2 and followed by the release of his latest song “Messed Up As Me” on March 1.
While chatting with Music Mayhem and other media during a recent interview, the country superstar opened up about his latest releases — such as the meaning/message behind them, as well as how they came to be — which will serve as a part of his 13th studio album to come later this year.
“Straight Line”
Written by Jerry Flowers, Chase McGill, Greg Wells, and Keith Urban himself, “Straight Line” marked the first release from the 56-year-old singer/songwriter’s new era of music. Urban took to Instagram upon its release to explain not only the song itself, but also how it sets the scene for what’s to come.
“This is the song that kicks off an album I’m jonesing to share with you all. I chose it first for a lot of reasons, but particularly because I think it represents an energy and spirit that became a through line of the whole record. I’m gonna cover a lot of themes, emotions and vibes on this album, but a very human spirit runs through them all. ‘Straight Line’ is wanting to break out of a soul-sucking routine that you might be stuck in: maybe in a relationship, a job, with creativity, with yourself…whatever it is !! It’s a message of feeling alive again and getting out from under that dark cloud. If you’ve seen us in concert, I hope it gives you that same feeling,” Urban wrote in an Instagram post at the time of the track’s release.
The 15-time ACM Award-winner also elaborated on how “Straight Line” came to be, revealing that “the song just sort of grew. It just grew really quickly. There are two songs on this album that came from two days of writing, with three of my buddies that I love writing with, and ‘Straight Line’ was the second of the two songs we wrote, and I just loved the spirit of it… If anybody has seen us play live, this song for me captures a lot of that feeling of what I’m trying to create in the room that we’re playing in. The feeling I want people to have. I felt like ‘Straight Line’ has that feeling about it, and it seemed like a perfect first song.”
“Messed Up As Me”
The second release from his forthcoming new album, “Messed Up As Me,” serves as “almost a 180 from that,” and hit all music streaming platforms on March 1. The tune brings something fresh and brand new to the table.
Beginning with a vinyl static that “just had a good atmosphere about it” — as well as a soulfulness about it that Urban could not help but gush about — Keith Urban then dove into the meaning of “Messed Up As Me” as a whole.
He explained, “This is an extremely relatable song for me. I mean, here’s a dysfunctional relationship, and I can relate to that, where there’s only one good thing going on. I’ve had these relationships, there’s only one part of the relationship that is amazing, and all the rest is complete chaos, dysfunction, toxicity. That one thing is pretty good, so you keep coming back to it. That’s really the center of ‘Messed Up As Me.’”
“It’s always a feeling for me with songs… I have to know the guy in the song, and I can relate to it top to bottom,” Urban continued, prior to admitting that although he was not a writer on the track, “Messed Up As Me” was an outside cut that he just could not refuse, relating to him almost as if he crafted up the catchy tune himself.
“I’ve got to have experienced what the song’s about, you know, and that was absolutely the case with ‘Messed Up As Me,’” he prefaced, prior to delving into the details. “I’ve definitely been in those situations, not just once, but I know that place really well, and that’s everything for me of why a song is going to work for me or isn’t going to work for me… I felt it in every part of me. Right from the beginning.”
Scrapped The Initial Version Of His New album
In the same interview, Urban revealed that while “Straight Line” and “Messed Up As Me” serve as a part of his upcoming project, his 13th studio album was supposed to come much earlier, admitting that he had a fully finished record a year ago, only to scrap it entirely and start fresh.
“In February last year, I brought the whole album in finished, and I could feel as I was playing it that it wasn’t the album. ‘Messed Up As Me’ was part of that album, so there were certain songs that wanted to be a part of a different record, if that makes any sense… The vision I had for the album, it was almost like some of the songs started to tell me that there’s another record. ‘We’re part of that record, so take us with you, get back in the studio, get back to writing, and finish the album that we’re a part of. We’re not on this record,’ and ‘Messed Up As Me’ is one of those songs,” the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame inductee detailed.
Started Fresh And Is Now 100% Invested In The New Project
Now, Urban admits that he is 100 percent invested in the project, something that he did not feel with the previous version.
He dished, “The previous album, I felt like I was 98 percent in when I was listening to it… I’ve got to believe in them top to bottom, every one of them,” and because of this, the whole album will be only 11 songs, spanning a duration of 40 minutes from top to bottom. “The sequencing was important — the way the album starts, the way the album ends — the stories and themes, tempos, energies, everything that happened in between. It’s like an 11 song set. For me, that’s how I ended up putting it together, and then it just made perfect sense for me, so I’m really, really looking forward to everybody hearing the whole thing.”
The album will feature a collaboration
As country music lovers might remember, Dolly Parton made an appearance to present Keith Urban as one of the newest inductees of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October. Because of this, rumors have been circulating that a collaboration between the longtime friends is in the works, however, the “Blue Ain’t Your Color” singer set the record straight in our exclusive interview, admitting that he would “be down for it in a heartbeat,” however, nothing is happening at the moment.
Given that Urban is no stranger to collaborations — with his most recent one being with his former fellow The Voice: Australia coach, Rita Ora — his 13th studio album will feature a duet nonetheless.
“I have one collab on this record. It’s not Dolly, but I would love to sing with her at some point down the track, but I have one collab on this record. It’s a duet, and we recorded it last summer, so again, it’s been so frustrating sitting on this song, which will come up on a year probably by the time it comes out [and] It’s just been sitting waiting to come out for a year, but I’m really excited for that to come out as well… I can’t wait for you to hear it because it was a lot of fun doing it,” he teased, all while sharing a cheeky smile.
He then proceeded to explain why he loves collaborations so much, which he thinks stems from being a guitar player.
“Performing with other people is something I love doing. I always love doing it, because I learn something from it… When Eric Church and I do something or Carrie and I, Miranda and I, I’ve gotten to do collabs with so many artists and people I love, and I love that this thing comes from it that would never have happened on our own. It just wouldn’t have existed,” he shared.
The Title of The Album
Last, but certainly not least, Keith Urban fans are probably left with just one burning question: What is the title of his 13th studio album? While he has yet to announce what this project will be called, Urban revealed that it will be only one word — much like Fuse from 2013 and Ripcord from 2016 — sharing with Music Mayhem and other media how he landed on this extremely short title.
“When we release the title of the album, whenever that’s going to roll out, it’s a one word title, and I think that kind of summed up the whole spirit and energy of the record, and it ended up also being a word that started appearing in many songs on the record, unbeknownst to me, because the songs were done and recorded… It’s in a lot of songs, so that really summed up the album, so it’s really just, I think, a feeling and a spirit and an energy, and I think it’s a very accurate photograph of who I am at the moment,” he gushed with a grin.
While Keith Urban fans anxiously await more information regarding his 13th studio album, country music lovers can listen to both “Straight Line” and “Messed Up As Me” on their favorite music streaming service now.
