Keith Urban’s highly anticipated eleventh studio album, “High,” is finally here!
After a four-year wait since his last album, Urban is back with a musical journey that explores the highs and lows of life. “High” is more than just an album title; it reflects the diverse nature of Urban’s musical journey and personal experiences.
As Urban explains, “What makes you ‘high’ can mean whatever you want it to mean. It might be physical, spiritual, herbal, meditative, chemical or musical, but it’s definitely a place of utopia.” For Urban, this utopia is found in his family, friends, music, and the electrifying connection he shares with his audience during live performances.
The 12-track album includes previously released singles like “MESSED UP AS ME” and “WILDSIDE.” It also features a captivating duet with CMA Entertainer of the Year, Lainey Wilson, titled “GO HOME W U.” Urban actually reached out to Wilson directly to collaborate, saying he loved her voice. He had already recorded the song, but his friend Dan McCarroll suggested it would be a good duet. Luckily, Wilson loved the song and, according to Urban, “just took it to another level.”
The making of “High” wasn’t without its challenges. Urban initially worked on a different album, which he started in 2022, titled “615,” but ultimately decided to scrap it because he wasn’t satisfied with the final product. He salvaged four songs from the scrapped project––”‘MESSED UP AS ME’, ‘DAYTONA’, ‘HEART LIKE A HOMETOWN’, and ‘BREAK THE CHAIN’”––and used them as the foundation for “High.”
This decision led to a year-long delay in his tour plans, but Urban felt it was essential to release an album he truly believed in. He emphasized the importance of creative control, saying, “At the end of the day, I’m the one that’s going to live or die by those choices. And I’d much rather have a failure that was my choice than somebody else’s.” He scrapped the album, “615,” because, while he thought having that framework would be musically helpful, “There was no continuity. The songs didn’t work well together…what I thought was a framework to create within, turned out to be musically limiting.”
“High” is an album of contrasts, blending organized chaos with moments of raw emotion. This is particularly evident in the juxtaposition of upbeat tracks like “Straight Line” and “Laughin’ All the Way to the Drank” with the poignant ballad “Love Is Hard.” The album also includes a song called “Blue Sky.” Urban said he wanted “High” to capture the duality of his personality: “I’ve got a dutiful, responsible, reliable side. And I’ve got this animalistic, wild, reckless, irresponsible, ‘what does this button do?,’”
The album concludes with a deeply personal song, “Break the Chain,” which reflects on Urban’s relationship with his late father, who struggled with alcoholism. Urban describes the song as “a hopeful song” that offers solace and strength to those facing similar familial challenges, explaining that it’s “about behavioral patterns that we all learn very quickly to survive in whatever environment that we’re in.”
Be sure to check out Keith Urban’s new album “High,” available now!