Brett Young will release his sophomore album, Ticket to L.A., this Friday, and he says the one thing fans will notice is that it is definitely a little more uplifting and peppy than his first album, because he’s in a much different place now than he was when he was writing his first album. Brett says, “I think the first album was a really good way for me to introduce myself to people. I think that it was extremely honest, personal, and vulnerable, and I think it’s unfortunately a little bit easier to do that when you’re sad, when you’re at that place in your life, and I was. Me and my girl were broken up and I was also new to Nashville and hadn’t built a huge friend base yet. And so I think that made it really easy for me to go a little bit dark and be a little bit … extremely vulnerable, really.”
But during the making of album #2, Brett was engaged and planning his wedding, and he was riding high on the success of his first album, which produced four number one, Platinum or multi-Platinum singles. He says, “With this second one, not only am I getting in the room with experienced, successful writers, and me being in this happy place in my life … yeah, there’s a lot more tempo, not intentionally. It just happens naturally, but also even some of the, like, downtempo or sad songs have this, like, peppy feel to them and I don’t think that’s anything that you could, like, seek out intentionally. It’s just, it’s hard to hide that in a song when that’s where you’re at in your life.”
As far as the sound and feel of Ticket to L.A., Brett didn’t want to just give fans ‘Album One 2.0.’ He says, “I’m sure you’re hearing a lot more pop on this record, if you’ve heard it. That reflects A) where I’m at in my life, and B) some of the people that I’ve gotten in rooms with. But the second somebody says, ‘What’s your favorite song that you didn’t write to sing?’ I’m probably going to go pull out an old R&B or soul. So, yeah, I don’t think that’s anything that will ever leave and that’s always going to be a big part of my heart as an artist.”
But the soulful aspect is subtle in some ways. “Even if you don’t realize you’re hearing it, it’s kind of tucked in there but it’s driving the song and it’s got this R&B flair. And I think we basically made another Brett Young record, but we just put a little R&B twist on it.”
Ticket to L.A. features Brett’s current single, “Here Tonight,” as well as “Catch,” “Ticket to L.A.” and “Reason to Stay,” which fans received as advance downloads if they pre-ordered the album, plus a special duet with one of Brett’s musical idols, which they wrote together, called “Chapters.”
Brett Young – album reflects life :57
“I think the first album was a really good way for me to introduce myself to people. I think that it was extremely honest, personal, and vulnerable, and I think it’s unfortunately a little bit easier to do that when you’re sad, when you’re at that place in your life, and I was. Me and my girl were broken up and I was also new to Nashville and hadn’t built a huge friend base yet. And so I think that made it really easy for me to go a little bit dark and be a little bit … extremely vulnerable, really. And so I think when you go there, when you get that personal and that honest, I think it’s a really good way for people to start to get to know you. You know the risk you run is that as they’re getting to know you they think that that’s who you are as a person, that you’re always that way. And for me it just reflects a place in my life. And so that’s why it’s going to be so nice, you know, with this second record to have it reflect where I’m at now which is a very uplifting, happy place in my life. And with the second record we’re doing the same thing. I made sure that it’s vulnerable and it’s honest. It’s just coming from a completely different stage in my life.”
Brett Young – soul on second album :32
“There needed to be something in production that was a little bit different. Not so different that the fans that I’ve earned with album one felt alienated, but different enough that it didn’t feel like album one 2.0. And I sat with Dan Huff for a while and we talked about it and he had a couple of great ideas and the one that I think was the winner was, he goes, ‘You grew up listening to soul music and R&B.’ He goes, “Let’s just put a little of that flair in the production.” And I think that even if you don’t realize you’re hearing it, it’s kind of tucked in there but it’s driving the song and it’s got this R&B flair. And I think we basically made another Brett Young record, but we just put a little R&B twist on it.”
Brett Young – keeping soul sound :26
“I don’t know that that’s something that leaves you. As more doors open to write with more people, you’re going to – depending on what room you’re in and what writer you’re with – it’s going to swing one way or the other. I’m sure you’re hearing a lot more pop on this record, if you’ve heard it. That reflects A) where I’m at in my life, and B) some of the people that I’ve gotten in rooms with. But the second somebody says, ‘What’s your favorite song that you didn’t write to sing?’ I’m probably going to go pull out an old R&B or soul. So, yeah, I don’t think that’s anything that will ever leave and that’s always going to be a big part of my heart as an artist.”
Brett Young – tempo of second record :40
“The ballads are the easiest. That’s my wheelhouse. And with the first record, you know, it’s always about picking the best songs. So I think, rightfully so, when we’re picking from every song that I’ve ever written, 90% ballads probably picking for the first record, and luckily there were just ones that worked at country radio. With this second one, not only am I getting in the room with experienced, successful writers, and me being in this happy place in my life … yeah, there’s a lot more tempo, not intentionally. It just happens naturally, but also even some of the, like, downtempo or sad songs have this, like, peppy feel to them and I don’t think that’s anything that you could, like, seek out intentionally. It’s just, it’s hard to hide that in a song when that’s where you’re at in your life. And so, you know, it still sounds like a Brett Young record, but I think there’s a very different feel to it.”
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Brett Young – Gavin on new album :49
“You know there’s one surprise on this album number two that I’m really, really excited about. And anybody that’s followed my career to this point and read interviews, they’ve seen and heard that I have a huge admiration for Gavin DeGraw. And his first record and his career has had a lot to do with me wanting to pursue this as a career and do this for a living. And we’ve been friends for years now, but this is the first time that I’ve gotten the opportunity to get into a room and write a song with him and it turned out to be one that was kind of the perfect collaboration to also have him sing on. And so there is a song on this record called “Chapters” that I not only co-wrote with Gavin DeGraw and our friend Ross Copperman, but that we also got to feature Gavin playing and singing on. So it’s really special to me and I think it’s something a little different and really cool for the fans that might not only listen to country music but crossover and have been a fan of Gavin for a long time the way that I have.”