Keith Urban is best known for country songs that merge storytelling with chart-topping hooks, but his latest album is headed in a bold new direction.
The country superstar shared news that his new LP will feature music that fans know and love, adding it’s a direction he’s never headed before. He revealed the news at a country radio seminar in Nashville, Tennessee, as reported by Taste of Country.
What Type of Album is Keith Urban Doing Next?
Keith Urban revealed that his next album will be a dramatic departure from the country music fans know and love. The entertainer told attendees at a Nashville country radio seminar that he plans on doing an album of Yacht Rock covers.
Yacht Rock is a genre of music known for its smooth music that has a “perfectionist production quality, lush harmonies, and reliance on lyrical sentimentality,” according to the Berklee College of Music website. Top artists in the genre include The Eagles, Christopher Cross, The Little River Band, and The Doobie Brothers, reported Paste Magazine.
The former “American Idol” judge told audience members his next LP would be an “album of covers.” He called it a “thematic record,” although there is “one original” song included.
“Yacht rock songs,” he revealed. “You think I’m kidding but I’m not kidding.”
Urban then showed how serious he was about the project by performing the Stephen Bishop classic, “On and On.” Taste of Country reported he also sang Robbie Dupree’s “Sail Away.” The country superstar didn’t confirm in the clip if either of these songs will make it on the new LP.
Keith Urban Regularly Ventures Outside of the Country Music Genre
According to Rolling Stone Australia, which spotlighted Keith Urban in 2021, the country music superstar regularly highlights other genres in his songs.
In the interview, Urban revealed that he felt “limited” in expressing himself initially. It took years for him to allow himself to be free in his music.
“I’ve just now been able to express more broadly what I felt inside,” he admits. “Even my ability to express myself was a bit limited for a lot of years, just for… all manner of reasons really.”
“You don’t really get help and support until they see that you’re really becoming a part of the community. It’s very hard,” Urban continued.
Ultimately, he began earmarking songs that were just for country radio. The others were more experimental and followed Urban’s changing musical tastes. “Slowly over a lot of records, I was getting to the point where I went, ‘Well, why don’t we earmark the singles for country radio and then the others I can just play with and expand those out? They aren’t for radio.’”
Throughout his career, Urban has paired up with collaborators such as Pink (“One Too Many”), Snoop Dogg (“Let it Roll”), Pitbull and Nile Rodgers (“Sun Don’t Let Me Down”), Julia Michaels (“Coming Home”), Nelly Furtado (“In God’s Hands”), and Rita Ora (“Shape of Me”). He has not revealed if this new LP will feature any Yacht Rock legends as guest stars.
