Old Dominion just announced that their third studio album would be self-titled, a move that’s a bit uncommon for this late in a career. But the five-man group, fronted by lead singer Matthew Ramsey, says it’s the only name that made sense to them.
“I think it’s why we we self-titled it, because it sounds the most like us,” Ramsey told ABC News Radio. “And I think we’re a little bit more personal as far as songwriting goes, and just a little bit more deliberate in the making of the whole thing. Every sound we made on it was a true choice. So we’re very proud of it.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Old Dominion follows the band’s sophomore Happy Endings record, which was released in August of 2017. While fans have been eager for new music from the reigning CMA and ACM Vocal Group of the Year, Old Dominion has been equally ready to give it to them, but had to wait until the timing was right.
“I think it’s just the process, like trying to figure out all the pieces of the puzzle to put together,” band member Geoff Sprung explained. “The recording portion’s been done since earlier in the year. But there’s just such a big organization, it takes a lot of steps.”
Old Dominion won’t be released until Oct. 25, but thankfully fans won’t need to wait that long to hear new music.
“The plan is to kind of continually leak out some of the album,” Ramsey noted. “It is a bit of a wait still for the whole album to come out. So we just want to give them a little taste here and there.”
One of those songs will likely be “Some People Do,” which is one of the most introspective songs that quintet has ever recorded.
“It’s a very personal song for me,” Ramsey admitted. “You just get to a point sometimes where it can be overwhelming. For me, that song was very therapeutic to get out of my system and feel like I needed to make some changes. There’s a long list of people I’ve hurt, I’m sure, but you just want to get to those people and say, ‘I can be a better person,’ and I think a lot of people can identify with that, whether it be through personal decisions or alcoholism or whatever.”
Old Dominion is currently on their extended Make It Sweet Tour. Find dates by visiting their website.
Photo Credit: Getty images / John Shearer