Link copied
After teasing his upcoming project earlier in January, Kenny Chesney has today surprised fans with the announcement that his hotly anticipated new album, BORN, will arrive on March 29th.
The record is set to feature the recently released lead single, ‘Take Her Home’, in addition to the rousing, motivational title-track, which is yet to be made available.
2024 | Warner Music Nashville
The unexpected unveiling has been met with widespread celebration from across the country music world, and, of course, Kenny's loyal No Shoes Nation fanbase. The country megastar admitted he was pleasantly shocked by the reaction when he confirmed he was working on his Here and Now follow-up last week.
Speaking ahead of the BORN revelation, Kenny shared, “You never want to think it’s all about you, or that in this crazy world, it’s all about your music. I’m just trying to find songs that continue the story of who we are...how we live, breathe, work, rock, kick back and sometimes get tangled up in feelings that are anything but simple. Then you see people react the way they have to the news, and you go, ‘Well, okay...’”.
The ‘Summertime’ hitmaker went on to explain how the cover art, which consists of Kenny staring directly into the camera against an oceanview backdrop, “I’d already decided on the cover because it was something clean and simple and true. It’s the kind of picture that says everything, but leaves plenty of room for everything else. My friend Allister shot it, and it’s just me looking straight into No Shoes Nation. When I saw it, it was really the only choice for this record”.
Interestingly, it appears the final tracklist for BORN has not yet been finalised, with Kenny Chesney stressing that he's been taking a different approach to the new record, “Normally, we wait until it’s all figured out, the T’s are crossed, the I’s are dotted,” Chesney says. “But everything about this record’s been different – from how much time we’ve spent, the different ways we recorded and wrote and found songs – so why not let the fans know as we’re finishing up? We make this music for them, so, here you go. It’s official: BORN, March 29 – and you’ve seen the cover. Now to the final line-up, and maybe getting a couple more out there”.
Excitingly, the Knoxville singer-songwriter teased some details about the song lying at the heart of the album, “As for the title, well, we’re still not quite done deciding what’s going on here, but one thing’s for sure: BORN is absolutely the title track. It’s got a lot of heart, a lot of soul – and it speaks the truth about living, life and what we’re all doing here. Banjo out front, a great big pocket that rocks back and forth, it feels great. But more importantly, it’s a lyric that throws out all the options, never tells you what to do and throws out the one existential truth no matter what you choose: ‘one thing’s for certain, we’ve all been living since the day we were born’”.
BORN will mark Kenny Chesney's first full-length studio since his lauded 2020 project, Here and Now. Judging from what Kenny has said so far, it appears BORN will follow in the same inspirational, energising vein that pervades the chart-topping artist's discography, with each track being underpinned by a resounding ‘carpe diem’ cri-de-coeur.
For more on Kenny Chesney, see below:
