Brett Eldredge Says He Heard Himself ‘as an Artist for the First Time’ Working on New Album

Brett Eldredge's new album, Sunday Drive, is due on July 10, and the project marks a new direction for the singer, who described it as "extremely honest," something he credits to producers Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk. "I was at this moment in my life where I wanted to shake things up a lot and really push myself creatively to create something next level for myself and deeper, musically as well as personally," he told PopCulture.com and other media. "I knew I had to push outside my comfort zone to do that, so I needed to try some different people out."

Eldredge shared that he first worked with the pair when he went to write at Tashian's home studio. "It was such a creative experience that I never had. It was so different," he recalled. "I walked out of the room thinking, 'Wow, I don't know what just happened, but it was something special.' I kept pushing myself into that way of creating music a little bit. Then we developed this relationship and I realized as we were recording these demos in his garage studio, they ended up being... I actually heard myself as an artist for the first time and just the rawness of it. I was like, 'I want to create a record that feels like this.'"

"We're not layering a million different parts on there," he explained. "We're letting the song be a song and creating the space. It was an incredible experience. Then we just kept writing and, next thing you know, that's exactly how we made the record in Chicago." Eldredge, Tashian and Fitchuk recorded Sunday Drive at Shirk Studios in Chicago in Eldredge's home state of Illinois, a decision the singer called "very empowering."

"I needed to get a different lens on what I was doing as an artist and as a person and so, I wanted to walk those streets in my favorite city and step in the studio and create some," he said. "Then when I needed to think a little bit, I'd step out and started to give myself the space to create and I think it really let myself show my real, natural side of who I am, as an artist. I think it ties together a lot of my inspirations and I think it pushes the boundaries, which I've always tried to do but in a way that can relate to everyone out there. Also, it's heavy in nostalgia, it's heavy in the people that I grew up listening to but also things of today, as well. It was scary to do and also very empowering."

On April 17, Eldredge released three songs from the album including lead single "Gabrielle," which was the first song he recorded for the project. "I stepped in there, we nailed it in one pass," he said. "After being gone and off the scene for a year, to find that in yourself, to be like, 'I'm going to try to be bold and do something like this.' And then to really feel that weight off your shoulders like, 'Wow, maybe I wasn't crazy. Maybe this is what I was supposed to do."' Hitting the first song, the whole process was such a growth for me and really shows something that none of my music has even come close to touching."