Thomas Rhett Assembles ‘Singable Earworms’ For Seventh Studio Album [Interview]

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Thomas Rhett. Photo: Josh Aikin

For more than 10 years, Thomas Rhett has shared his stories through song as heads bob, hips sway and lips belt the lyrics alongside him—leading to 22 No. 1s, 16 billion streams, eight ACM Awards, two CMA Awards, five Grammy nominations and more.

Devoted to his craft, the songsmith has curated his past six projects with such intention, swirling together a diverse range of musical elements to create his own kind of country and connect with crowds across the globe. The same rings true for his seventh studio album, About A Woman, set for release this Friday (Aug. 23). Creating the 14-track collection stimulated The Valory Music Co. artist in new ways sonically while he worked to balance the sound he has become known for.

Photo: Courtesy of The Valory Music Co.

“I’ve always taken pride in pulling so many things I love about other genres and mixing them into what I feel like is my brand of country music. This record in particular is sort of a blend of every record that I’ve made,” the hitmaker tells MusicRow. “There’s a lot of Tangled Up in there, a lot of Life Changes in there and a little bit of Country Again (Side A) in there. I think making records that are somewhat all over the place is cohesive to me.”

The cohesion of About A Woman comes from the infectious rhythms that flow from one track to the next. While they all center around the theme of a lady’s love, each tune was given unique traits in the studio that make them individually identifiable. Rhett’s favorite part of the album-making process is developing the track list because it is then that he maps out the “roller coaster” that listeners will ride. His goal is for the final concoction of twists and turns to be as digestible as a favorite playlist.

“All of these people come to country concerts and the playlists they’re listening to in the parking lots have everything from hip-hop and heavy metal to bluegrass, folk and Americana. So I’ve tried to make my records almost as if they’re someone’s playlist,” says Rhett. “Listeners know it’s all me, but they’re getting different flavors. It’s like walking into an ice cream shop—you have chocolate and vanilla but there’s sprinkles, oreos and other things you can top it with to change the taste.”

He notes that this seventh collection, primarily produced by Julian Bunetta and Dann Huff, was the result of a “complete sense of freedom,” as he had more time than he’s ever had in his career to make an album—which was both a blessing and a curse.

“The blessing is that you get to live with it, and the curse is that you never think that you’re finished,” Rhett explains. “But it was really awesome to work with a team this go-around that was extremely brutal in terms of lyric and melody choice. I think my core fans that have been following me since 2013 and 2014 will find this to be their favorite record in quite awhile. I’m really proud of it.”

Rhett co-penned 12 of the album’s songs, including “Gone Country” and “Overdrive” as well as top 20-and-climbing lead single “Beautiful As You” and the recently-released “After All the Bars Are Closed,” many of them with Los Angeles-based collaborators driven by melody. For much of the About A Woman writing sessions, Rhett and his co-writers got started by a humming a tune they all loved and put words to it after—an approach he hadn’t taken up until then.

“I always start with a title, or I have a chorus written or I know how I’m going to hook a chorus, then the music comes.” He details the neat challenge this new way of writing was for his brain and states, “At the end of the day, the words can be amazing, but you also want the track to be a singable earworm.”

Rhett recalls hearing John Byron first hum the memorable melody of opening number “Fool,” which the two wrote alongside Bunetta, Rocky Block, Alexander Izquierdo, Zaire Kelsey, John Ryan and Ryan Vojtesak. “Beautiful As You” marks another About A Woman earworm. The entertainer admits that although the verses are wordy, the space within the single’s chorus initially made him uncomfortable while inking it with Bunetta, Izquierdo, Kelsey, Ryan, Joshua Emanuel Coleman and Jacob Kasher Hindlin.

“Julian said to me, ‘Listen to this song and imagine that you don’t speak English. Does this melody do something to you?’ After I replied ‘Yes,’ he told me to just ‘let the space be uncomfortable for a second, because people do actually enjoy space.’

“We really tried to dive into that on this record, which was a big challenge for me because I love to pack it in. So even though there are a bunch of progressive sounds on this project, songs like ‘Gone Country,’ ‘After All the Bars Are Closed’ and ‘Beautiful As You’ are actually sparse musically and lead with the melody.”

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Rhett and his producers also wanted to incorporate tunes that he could narrate, leading to the recording of outside cuts “Country For California,” which had the Eagles-esque feel he had been looking for, and “Don’t Wanna Dance,” which drew him in with its Whitney Houston-like chorus.

“I’ve tried to write heartbreak songs but they just end up being mediocre,” he says. “I think it’s because I have to go so far back in time. I’ve been married for 12 years, and my heart has definitely broken from a loved one passing away and things like that, but when I think about writing songs like [these two], I don’t know how to go there. I’m one of those artists that doesn’t know how to say it if they haven’t lived it.”

Rhett describes his tendency to overthink album titles and tour names due to his desire for an artistic, personal feel. After going through every song, he and his manager began to discuss the project’s overarching theme and landed on About A Woman.

“I think [that title] legitimately describes all 14 tracks,” he expresses. “This is really the first time I’ve stuck to a concept all the way through a record. It doesn’t have many curveballs contextually, it’s strictly bops about my wife [Lauren] and I feel like there’s a lot of people out there who can relate to these songs.”

In addition to his writing, About A Woman has altered Rhett’s live-show approach. He loves when the vast majority of the audience knows the words and notes that playing new songs live has always been nerve-racking, until now.

“This is the first time that we’ve immediately added new songs to the set just after they’ve been released. That says something to me because I’ve always waited until something was top 15 on the chart or streamed 40 million times before putting it into my shows,” Rhett shares. “My excitement level for this is different compared to anything I’ve put out in the last five years.”

When asked what he wants fans to take away from About A Woman, the first word out of his mouth is “joy.” “When we circle up before shows, my drummer always says, ‘don’t forget the mission is to bring joy and smiles to peoples’ faces.’ That’s been our mission on stage, and that was the mission for this album.”

The superstar aims to keep spreading joy while performing his hits and new music during his four-night run at the BleauLive Theater inside Fontainebleau Las Vegas, taking place in December.

About A Woman Track Listing:
1. “Fool” (Thomas Rhett, Rocky Block, Julian Bunetta, John Byron, Alexander Izquierdo, Zaire Kelsey, John Ryan, Ryan Vojtesak)
2. “Overdrive” (Thomas Rhett, Julian Bunetta, Jacob Kasher, John Ryan)
3. “Gone Country” (Thomas Rhett, Rocky Block, Julian Bunetta, John Byron, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Joe Reeves, Ryan Vojtesak)
4. “Beautiful As You” (Thomas Rhett, Julian Bunetta, Joshua Emanuel Coleman, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Alexander Izquierdo, Zaire Kelsey, John Henry Ryan)
5. “Can’t Love You Anymore” (Thomas Rhett, Julian Bunetta, Jacob Kasher, John Ryan)
6. “After All The Bars Are Closed” (Thomas Rhett, Julian Bunetta, John Byron, Jaxson Free, Jacob Kasher)
7. “Church” (Thomas Rhett, Andy Albert, Julian Minton, Mark Trussell)
8. “Back To Blue” (Thomas Rhett, Julian Bunetta, Andrew Haas, John Ryan)
9. “Country For California” (Will Bundy, Rodney Clawson, John Morgan, Justin Wilson)
10. “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Woman” (Thomas Rhett, Julian Bunetta, Andrew Haas, John Ryan)
11. “What Could Go Right” (Thomas Rhett, Rocky Block, John Byron, Josh Kerr)
12. “Boots” (Thomas Rhett, Julian Bunetta, Andrew Haas, John Ryan)
13. “Don’t Wanna Dance” (Matt Dragstrem, Ryan Hurd, George Merrill, Shannon Rubicam)
14. “I Could Spend Forever Loving You” (Thomas Rhett, Mark Holman, Ernest K. Smith)

Liza Anderson
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