Keith Urban Announces Upcoming New Album, ‘The Speed of Now Part 1’

Keith Urban has officially announced a new album, revealing that The Speed of Now Part 1 will arrive on Sept. 18. Urban shared the news with a YouTube video on Friday, which shows the singer working at his home studio as well as just spending time at home, watching TV on the couch, playing chess with himself on a Game of Thrones-inspired board and driving his truck. “Sometimes I have so many voices in my head and I think, ‘Which one is the real me?’” he says in the clip. “The real you is the one who’s listening to the voices.

“In October 2019, this title came to me,” Urban continues. “I liked it because I felt like life was flying by so fast, faster and faster all the time. But music has always been the place where it slows down and doesn’t even exist. I would never have imagined that, in 2020, this album title would take on a whole new meaning and yet somehow still feel so incredibly relevant.” The video also shares several song titles and snippets of tracks including “Gas,” “Tumbleweed,” “Polaroid,” “Change Your Mind,” “Wait” and “Superman.”

Fans have already heard “Polaroid,” which Urban released last month, and in February, he shared “God Whispered Your Name,” though it is not confirmed that that song will appear on the singer’s upcoming project. Judging by the sneaks peeks of each track, The Speed of Now Part 1 will build on Urban’s genre exploration, which usually culminates in feel-good pop-country tracks that stay true to the 52-year-old’s positive sound. The album will be Urban’s first since 2018’s Graffiti U, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart and featured singles “Female,” “Parallel Line,” “Coming Home” and “Never Comin’ Down.”

The Speed of Now Part 1 will be released two days after Urban hosts the 2020 ACM Awards in Nashville, which were rescheduled from April 5 in Las Vegas due to the coronavirus pandemic. “I of course was meant to be hosting the ACMs tonight in Vegas, but we are now looking to be doing them September 16,” Urban said during his performance for ACM Presents: Our Country. “I cannot wait to be a part of that.” As host, Urban will almost certainly perform during the ceremony and it only remains to be seen whether he will choose an already-released song from his album or something brand-new to fans.