NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� He’s a country music star, but keen listeners know songwriting style is fluid across genres. Still, surely no one expected the shift of his 2026 album, 鈥淔low State.鈥� It features an original song with music legend, Michael McDonald, and 10 yacht rock covers.
The term is used as a catchall for soft rock released in the mid-to-late 鈥�70s and early 鈥�80s. Think classics like Player鈥檚 鈥淏aby Come Back鈥� and Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers鈥� 鈥淛ust the Two of Us.鈥�
Even Urban is surprised by his pivot. Few saw it coming. 鈥淚 didn’t either, no,鈥� he laughed.
How Urban channeled the 鈥楩low State鈥�
It began with the recording. Urban purchased and restored the former Tracking Room studio in Nashville, renaming it The Sound. To break in the space, he hired a few session musicians. 鈥淚 suggested that we do a yacht rock song just because I鈥檝e always loved that loosely defined genre, and the songs are great and the arrangements are bulletproof,鈥� he said.
Urban, producer Dann Huff and the band recorded two songs in one day. They were on fire, so a few more sessions were booked. And then a few more. 鈥淚 thought, well, maybe this will be an EP, something that鈥檚 in between albums,鈥� he said. It kept growing, eventually revealing itself to be a full-length release. 鈥淚t really took on a life of its own.鈥�
Urban says he and his crew were playing and recording purely for the joy of it. He says yacht rock is the 鈥減erfect genre for that spirit鈥� 鈥� one defined by a kind of ease of presence.
But for his first album with covers, Urban wasn’t interested in corrupting the classics or attempting to perfectly replicate them. 鈥淔low State鈥� exists somewhere in the middle, with his sonic signatures intact. Extended outros were a natural place for experimentation. Take, for example, 鈥淪ummer Breeze.鈥� After recording the track, Urban and engineer Mark Dobson decided to extend the end with keyboard and acoustic guitar. 鈥淲e assembled it after the fact, and it became this other piece,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hose moments kept presenting themselves, of where we could make it our own while still honoring the original.鈥�
It’s prevalent throughout the album, including on the record’s collaborations: on Walter Egan鈥檚 鈥淢agnet and Steel鈥� and on Bread鈥檚 鈥淭he Guitar Man.鈥�
Urban and Michael McDonald team up for 鈥榃e Go Back鈥�
The sole original track on 鈥淔low State鈥� is 鈥淲e Go Back,鈥� a nostalgic tune about a couple who separate and meet up later in life. Urban Sam Sumser and Sean Small in 2020. 鈥淚 said to the guys, 鈥極h my God, if we鈥檙e going to write a yacht rock song, imagine Mike McDonald singing in the chorus,鈥� he recalled.
Fast forward to 2026, when the yacht rock covers album materialized, and Urban鈥檚 manager suggested he work with or McDonald for it. They sent McDonald 鈥淲e Go Back鈥� and the rest is history.
鈥淟uckily, he loved it,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut man, six years later to actually have him on this song when we just imagined him singing it all those years ago was just crazy. It was so surreal.鈥�
Especially since Urban wasn’t thinking about writing originals for the album in the first place 鈥� the pieces simply fell into place.
A balm in a tumultuous time for the world and post-divorce
Urban describes the songs he chose to cover on 鈥淔low State鈥� as feeling as good to sing now as they did when they were initial release.
鈥淭he music was almost an antidote to the stresses of the times. And I think the reason it hits now is for the exact same reason it did back then, which is 鈥� there鈥檚 just so much divisiveness,鈥� he explained. The songs give audiences in 2026 the opportunity to escape and to revel in the joyfulness of the music.
They are a balm for listeners and for Urban.
In January, actor and Urban after 19 years of marriage. The documents stated that the couple has undergone 鈥渕arital difficulties and irreconcilable differences.鈥�
Urban describes 鈥淔low State鈥� as 鈥渁n unexpected group of songs and a very unexpected record to find me when it found me, because it was very much a 180 of what was going on at the time.鈥�
鈥淭he record鈥檚 called 鈥楩low State鈥� for a really good reason,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚t really was about just constant movement. And yeah, it was a challenging record to make at the same time, for something that kind of sounds so effortless. It was quite a juxtaposition at the time. But I鈥檓 really grateful for the way that the record turned out and obviously I鈥檓 very, very protective of my family and I鈥檝e remained that way the whole time.鈥�
As for 鈥淔low State,鈥� he says there’s real beauty in the idea that a yacht rock song can connect people to one another. 鈥淥ne theme, one feeling, one emotion that just lets us all exhale for a minute 鈥� and look up and see a blue sky 鈥� just for three minutes and 30 seconds, is so needed,鈥� he said.
That, everyone can agree on.
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