Music Row (Sept. 26th 2014)

Blake Shelton to Release ‘Bringing Back The Sunshine’ Sept. 30

CMA reigning Male Vocalist of the Year Blake Shelton is ready to release his 11th studio album, Bringing Back The Sunshine on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

“There’s something magical about that title, and given what this album is all about, I thought, ‘Bringing Back The Sunshine is like I’m bringing back some country music,’” he says. “Country is sunshine to me.”

With 11 tracks, Shelton returns to those themes that drew him to Nashville as a 17 year-old kid fresh out of high school. “It’s very important to me to push myself and my musical boundaries but it’s also important for me to come back and touch home base every once in a while, to be sure there’s always a firm foot planted in country music.”

The album features two songs with guest vocalists. “Lonely Tonight,” written by Brent Andersonand Ryan Hurd is a stirring duet with Ashley Monroe.

On “Buzzin'” Shelton keeps it in the family with The Voice season two contestant and teammate RaeLynn.

Shifting gears, Shelton says “Sangria” is “one of the sexiest songs” he’s ever cut. “It sounds like something that came from a different time, almost like something Chris Isaak would have had on one of his records at some point.”

“A Good Country Song,” is a slice of nostalgia written by Tommy Lee James, Matt Jenkins,andJessi Alexander. “Jessi Alexander is a great friend of mine, and she got in touch with me when she heard we were cutting tracks and said she wanted to write something for me. When I heard the lyric, it was almost as if she grew up in the same house I grew up in, from shifting the gears in my dad’s truck to listening to Earl Thomas Conley on a station out of Tulsa. There has never been a more accurate song about me that I have recorded.”

Fans who pre-order the album now will immediately receive “Neon Light,” “Lonely Tonight” featuring Monroe, “Buzzin’” featuring RaeLynn, and “Sangria.”