Keith Urban joins Baylen Leonard as first ever guest on Absolute Radio Country
He also chats about new single 'Out The Cage'
Last updated 20th May 2021
Country star Keith Urban joined Baylen Leonard as the first guest on Absolute Radio Country to chat about his track ‘Out the Cage’ featuring Breland and Nile Rodgers.
The multi-award-winning singer also spoke about the unlikely British artists that inspired his new song and when we can expect him to return to the UK on tour.
Watch Keith Urban chat to Baylen Leonard:
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Keith released two singles ‘We Were’ and ‘God Whispered Your Name’ teasing his 11th studio album ‘The Speed of Now Part 1’.
Despite being in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Keith continued to work on his music and adapt to the ‘new normal’.
He said: “At the beginning of the whole lockdown I was a bit frozen honestly. I was working on my album ‘The Speed of Now’ and it’s like you know when the power goes off, and you’re like how long is this going to be like this?
“My plan was I was just going to put my comfy pants on and sit on the couch and eat chips until the whole thing blew over, that was my plan. Suddenly I went, this is a big thing and it’s going to take a while. I had to figure out how to get on track again, just pivot and rethink everything and become adaptable to this new environment.”
The 53-year-old, who is married to actress Nicole Kidman with two daughters Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret , hosted a special New Year’s Eve concert streamed live from his driveway at his Nashville home.
He added: “It seemed like as good a place as any! Nic (Nicole Kidman) had gotten all of these beautiful lights put in the driveway for Christmas, and we loved them so much we thought let’s just leave them up. I thought it’d be a nice place to go out and sing some songs in the driveway with all these pretty lights in the background.
“It felt very alive and festive. That’s what I wanted people to feel at that time was a sense of together and festive. Because it was the antithesis to a lot of what people were going through.”
The music video for Keith’s track ‘Out The Cage’ was released earlier this year, and features Disco legend Nile Rodgers and musician Breland, who also collaborated on the single which came out last year.
Keith said the song was inspired by some unlikely British stars, including DJ Fatboy Slim and band The Prodigy.
He explained: “It was predicated on my love of those 90s Fatboy Slim records, and The Prodigy and some of that intense rhythmic energy. I wanted to try and write something that was built on that rhythmic bed. I brought the idea to a friend of mine, Breland who ended up singing on the song as well.
“I said to him this can’t just be about lockdown, I don’t just wanna hear about that. I don’t wanna hear about that next year that’s for sure. But I do want a song to help me out of whatever I’m stuck in. Whether that’s a job or a relationship that’s going nowhere, or my own negativity. Just anything and any one situation that I wanted to break out of.”
As restrictions begin to be lifted, many of us music fans have been patiently waiting for the return of live music and we’re not the only ones, as Keith admits he’s very eager to get back on the road.
He explained: “We’re trying to lean in to look at when next year we can come across. Our world tour is going to start in Australia in December. It was supposed to be December last year… Everything’s been pushed a little bit but I’m hoping we can get to the UK much sooner. Hopefully the earlier part of next year, my fingers are crossed for that.”
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