Warner Music Nashville recording artist Randall King is giving country music lovers a glimpse into who he really is with the release of Into The Neon, serving as a follow-up to his self-titled record, Randall King, and his major label debut album, Shot Glass.
“Sometimes you just got to unplug and get reconnected to who you are… I felt like with Shot Glass, I got away from that rough, edgy, young kid that I still am. It’s still in here, and I wanted to make sure that that was, you know, still in my music, and show people who I am through this sound,” King revealed to Music Mayhem, promising a sound that is authentic to who Randall King is as an artist.
“I feel like with Shot Glass, we aimed for a sound that was a little more commercialized, and I love the record and that’s definitely a side of me, but it’s not the full side of me. This is a sound that I’ve been aiming for since my self-titled record. I felt like I didn’t even hit it on my self-titled record, and I produced that myself. My self-titled record was a super reflection of my nineties country influence. Shot Glass is a little more commercialized and polished up. This record, it’s stripped of the compression. It’s stripped of the overproduction, It’s just raw, It’s just natural,” he continued, prior to delving into the details in an exclusive interview.
Gary Allan and Dierks Bentley inspired Into The Neon
Explaining that Randall King was inspired by nineties country and Shot Glass was “a little more commercialized and polished up,” it looks like third time’s the charm when it comes to achieving his signature sound, with the budding country star revealing that Into The Neon is him returning to his roots, all while drawing inspiration from legends like Gary Allan and Dierks Bentley.
“There’s a heavy influence of early Gary Allan and early Dierks Bentley,” King admitted. “My music’s always had that influence, but I was never fully able to bring it out within the songs. The songwriting has definitely had it, but this is the first time that I’ve had somebody that brought the sonics out, and it really nailed that side of me, because there’s definitely the cleaned up, polished type of Randall you’ve heard, but you ain’t heard this side of me yet. I aimed for it on a little EP called Honky Tonk Bullshit, and we were really close with it, but this record has a smoke to it.”
He continued passionately, “It has an edge to it. It’s not as cleaned up [and] It’s not as compressed [and] It’s not as polished. This record’s a little bit more raw. It’s more natural for me,” and this is evident after just one listen from top to bottom.
Differences Between Into The Neon and Shot Glass
As mentioned, Into The Neon and Shot Glass have some major differences, which the Texas native opened up about. “It’s been almost two years since I released Shot Glass… and this project’s been in the works literally since probably just a few months after Shot Glass,” he shared with a smile. “You know, a lot of this record, it’s the first time that it’s about 40 percent original songs. The other 60 is outside cuts that have been brought in that match who I am and what I do, and it’s just incredible songs, so this one was really just, you know, a little bit of personal experience, a little bit of where I was over the last two years, what’s been going on in my life.”
“There’s a lot of reflection of my roots and a side of me that’s been missed in my self-titled record and Shot Glass. This record has a very, very heavy influence of 16-year-old to just after college Randall. The Roman rambling and drifting kind of guy that I was,” King concluded, explaining even more of what Into The Neon entails.
Into The Neon Track List
- One Night Dance (Randall King & Jon Nite)
- Somewhere Over Us (Randall King, Mike Walker & Joey Hyde)
- When My Baby’s in Boots (Trannie Anderson, Michael Carter and Jordan Walker)
- What Doesn’t Kill You (Mitchell Tenpenny, Michael Whitworth, Nate Smith & Zach Kale)
- Hang of Hanging On (Brett Sheroky & Brice Long)
- Burns Like Her (Adam James, Greylan James & Mikey Reaves)
- Good Feelin’ (Michael Whitworth, Will Jones & Benjy Davis)
- The One You’re Waiting On (Adam Wright & Shannon Wright)
- Into The Neon (Randall King, Ben Stennis & Matt Rogers)
- Tonk ‘Til I Die (Randall King, Dan Smalley & Benjy Davis)
- But It Ain’t (Randall King, Jared Mullins & Ben Stennis)
- Coulda Been Love (Jake Worthington, Kim Penz & Roger Springer)
- Damn You Look Good (Ava Suppelsa, Aby Gutierrez & Andrew Peebles)
- Hard To Be Humble (Ben Hayslip, Corey Crowder & Chris LaCorte)
- Right Things Right (Trannie Anderson, Chris Dubois & Jordan Walker)
- As Far As We Go (Brett Sheroky & Drew Kennedy)
- I Could Be That Rain (Brian Fuller & Mason Thornley)
- I Don’t Whiskey Anymore (Randall King & Gordie Sampson)
Into The Neon features 12 outside cuts
While “One Night Dance,” “Somewhere Over Us,” “Into The Neon,” “Tonk ‘Til I Die,” “But It Ain’t,” and “I Don’t Whiskey Anymore” were all co-written by King, country music fans were left with just one burning question: How did the country crooner decide which outside cuts would make it onto Into The Neon?
Fortunately, the 33-year-old detailed the process from start to finish, explaining to Music Mayhem, “We did a pitch meeting, where we sat down with all the best writers in Nashville over at Warner, and we talked about what kind of songs we’re looking for on this record. We wanted the songs that fit where you could go two-step to, and then we ended up finding some that were really dynamic and showed off the depth of my personality — along with the two stepping, beer slinging, have a good time, get rowdy type songs — and those deep songs still fit into that smoky neon vibe.”
Due to the diversity of the project itself, there was room for tunes that spanned a wide range of feelings and emotions, all while staying true to who Randall King is at his core. Because of this, the soon-to-be country star concluding by stating that “this record is a full reflection of my upbringing and where I come from” and “there’s a lot of growth within it as well.”
Some songs will shock fans
“I could be that Rain”
As mentioned, Into The Neon is as diverse as can be, but King believes that two songs in particular will shock country music lovers from coast to coast: “I Could Be That Rain” and “As Far As We Go.”
“‘I Could Be That Rain’ is gonna surprise fans for sure,” he prefaced, prior to delving into the details. “That’s the biggest production song on this record, and it’s big, and it feels big… It’s something I ain’t ever done in my music, and I think people are going to love it. It’s the second to last song on the record, so you got to listen all the way through to get to it, but it’s going to blow up.”
“As Far As We Go”
While he used the word “sneaky” instead of “surprising” this time, “As Far As We Go” is another notable song on the project, with the Texas native explaining that “it’s almost got like an R&B type vocal cadence in the verses.”
Despite being one of King’s favorites, it almost did not make it onto Into The Neon.
“This one’s the sneakiest song on the record in my book, and it almost didn’t make it,” he continued passionately. “We were supposed to have 15 songs on this record, and we held three in our back pocket just in case we had time to record at the end of our sessions, and we had plenty of time, and we were able to get three more done, and one of them was ‘As Far As We Go.’ We got the approval to go ahead and put all 18 on there, so I was really excited to have 18 on this record, and I’m really glad that that song made it, because it’s one of my favorites to sing. I’ve been playing it acoustic out live, and it’s smoking out here.”
What’s next for Randall King?
Admitting that the sound heard on Into The Neon is here to stay, Randall King admitted that he may take a crack at his Honky Tonk Bullshit EP for the second time, teasing a volume two to come in the near future.
“I think we finally found the sound that I love, and it’s still traditional country. Obviously, we didn’t go pop country with my music by any means. It’s still traditional country music [and] It’s who I am, It’s not out of my wheelhouse, It’s not out of my box. It’s still 100 million percent me, so I think this sound is here to stay,” he explained, prior to teasing the potential project.
He gushed with a grin, “We did a little EP called Honky Tonk Bullshit that we dropped after Shot Glass, and I think this is the sound I was trying to aim for with that EP, so I think maybe the next step after this would be Honky Tonk Bullshit: Volume Two.”
While we anxiously await Honky Tonk Bullshit: Volume Two, country music lovers can listen to Into The Neon now on their favorite music streaming platform.
