New music from Kane Brown is here and there’s plenty to explore on The High Road, which features 18 tracks, 12 of them being brand new.
LISTEN NOW: Kane Brown gets vulnerable with 4th studio album, 'The High Road'
Previously released “Fiddle in the Band,” “Backseat Driver,” “Miles On It (with Marshmello),” “Body Talk (with Katelyn Brown),” “Gorgeous” and “I Can Feel It” set a high bar for the project, which marks Kane’s 4th studio album, and we’re here to say he definitely delivered.
“I’m excited for everybody to hear every song on this [album],” he told Audacy upon its release. “I really love every song.” There’s definitely something for everybody as song topics range from driving down a backroad to heart-shattering break-ups and mental health struggles.
Brown didn’t tackle it all alone as he welcomed a handful of collaborators including his wife, Katelyn Brown on two songs (“Body Talk” and “Do Us Apart”). He also gets some help from out-of-genre artists Khalid (“Rescue”) and Marshmello (“Miles On It”). Rounding out the collab list are Country pals Brad Paisley (“Things We Quit”) and Jelly Roll who joins him on a powerful mental health anthem, “Haunted.”
“‘Haunted,’ is a song I wrote about depression,” Kane boldly stated. “It’s about everything that I go through and I know a lot of other people go through as well,” he said of the tune that solidifies the message that money doesn’t buy happiness.
“It’s really just a song that I wanted to put out there to cause awareness. If you don’t go through it, then you’re not going to understand it,” he shared before expressing his gratitude for Jelly Roll joining him and “turning it up even more.”
"Haunted,” is just one of the many highly vulnerable pieces on the project, another being the final track, “When You Forget,” which contains a lyrical message from Kane to his Pa-Paw who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
“It’s a letter that I wrote to him,” Kane revealed. “So when he forgets, he will remember.” “When You Forget” isn’t the only nod to his roots on the project, Country fans will also note a familiar title on the tracklist, “Stay,” which Brown says is a cover he tackled in honor of his Mom.
“’Stay’ is an old Sugarland song and it was my mom’s favorite back in the day,” he expressed. “I had to re-imagine it and ‘Stay’ speaks for itself.”
A lot of thought, time and intent went into the 18-song track list for Kane, which is one of the things he’s most proud of as he got to spend all the time he wanted crafting it.
“I got to work on it a little bit more, I got to redo some stuff, re-write some things because I got a new studio and I got to re-sing a couple things. I really felt like I had all hands on this project,” he shared. “Just having the time to go back and adjust or fix any things that I had a problem with instead of just throwing it on the album and not liking it.”
Loving all elements of each and every track makes Brown even more excited to hit the road on tour and that’s exactly what he’ll do as he readies to take the album on the road in 2025 with his High Road Tour. Kicking off March 13 in San Diego and wrapping July 13 in Chicago the show will also feature special guests Mitchell Tenpenny, Scotty McCreery, Dasha and Ashley Cooke on select dates.
“This album, I just really wanted to have every song that I could play live,” he stated. “The last couple albums — I like the songs, but some of them were used or years old so I had already grown as an artist so I don’t want to perform them. Or, I feel like they don’t have a big enough message for everybody — but this album, there’s so many great songs. Even the slow songs…. I feel like I could do a whole tour on this album and be happy.”
Check it all out for yourself now by listening to Kane Brown’s brand new album, The High Road, available now.