Lady Antebellum is hard at work on their upcoming eighth studio album. The trio, made up of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, is using their time off the road not only to prepare for their 2019 Our Kind of Vegas residency, but also to write for their next set of tunes.
“We’re writing a ton,” Haywood shared with PopCulture.com at a recent media event. “This whole year we were out with Darius [Rucker] and we were writing a lot on the road and when we were back home. We honestly have a pile close to 50, 55 songs that we’ve written right now that we’re starting to look at.”
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Lady Antebellum released all of their previous albums on Capitol Records, but moved to Big Machine for their new record.
“There’s kind of a new energy that we have going into the studio with a new record label as well,” Haywood explained. “But we’re going to continue to write. We’ll be in the studio definitely by the top of the year. And we’re trying to find the way the timeline will work out once we get the music in place.”
The threesome previously admitted they used group therapy to help their dynamics as a group, which is having a positive affect on their music.
“There’s definitely some really honest songs in this batch already,” revealed Haywood. “We’ve been walking through something really, kind of deep connecting things as a band too. So it’s fun to really put that on paper and in music as well. So we’ve got a lot we want to say. We’ll continue writing while we’re in Vegas.”
All three members have co-written many of the songs for their previous albums, but they insist this one will be different than their previous ones, in the best way possible.
“There’s some layers that we’re pulling back for sure,” Kelley acknowledged, adding that much of the credit goes to some of the decision-makers at Big Machine. “The songs that they’re gravitating towards are the ones that are a little meatier and almost even, some would say, riskier to choose. Which is refreshing to us because I do think, sometimes there is this tendency to play it safe. And so far, it’s crazy to see how they’re so passionate about the exact same songs that we’re the most passionate about.”
“They really want us to push ourselves, and to really try to make a statement and be bold,” he continued. “And so we’re not going to rush it. But I can say that we’re already getting our plan together and still deciding who we want to do this record with. But we know we feel like we’ve got the majority of the songs ready to go. So we’re just whittling those down.”
Lady A has a handful of dates on the calendar before their Our Kind of Vegas residency, which kicks off on Feb. 8 at the Pearl Concert Theater. Find dates at LadyAntebellum.com.
Photo Credit: Getty images/Rick Diamond
