current single: “DAMN GOOD DAY TO LEAVE”
Riley Green will celebrate his 36th birthday this Friday (10/18) by releasing his new album, Don’t Mind If I Do. The album has 18 songs, including a duet with Luke Bryan called “Reel Problems,” and the title track featuring Ella Langley. If Riley had to sum up his new album, he’s not sure he could boil it down to a one-line description.
Riley Green – sum up Don’t Mind :30
“It would be really hard to come up with a phrase that really covers all the types of songs that are on this album. But I think that’s kind of how I would describe it, is it’s a collection of things that’s going on in my personal life, some songs that I just really like, musically places that I wanted to try to go, and also a lot of the things that got me here. It’s really a combination of a lot of that, and I think that’s something that I try to do on any project that I have is, don’t stray away from what got me here, but also where am I trying to go? And I think this album is really exactly what that is.”
Riley’s new album is named after a duet he performs on the album with Ella Langley, which is interesting because the song isn’t a personal anthem or a message that represents who Riley is, like a lot of title tracks usually are. It’s a heartbreak song, but Riley explains why he thought “Don’t Mind If I Do” would be a great title for the project.
Riley Green – Don’t Mind If I Do title :53
“You know, when you go to pick an album title, there’s several reasons you choose what you choose. I guess you could say, what phrase or name encompasses the whole project, which is tough to do on a lot of stuff ’cause this one’s got a lot of different types of songs on it. When you’ve got an album with ‘Jesus Saves’ and ‘Worst Way’ on it, it’s hard to pick a name for that album. Then you have, you know, what’s gonna sell good merch or what’s gonna be a good name for a tour, or also what song has a title that really fits. And for me, I love that ‘Don’t Mind If I Do’ is a very serious breakup, heartbreak love song, but ‘don’t mind if I do’ is such a lighthearted phrase how we use it in society. For me I heard ‘don’t mind if I do,’ and I had that title, I wrote the song by myself so I had to decide what direction to go with the song when I wrote it. And I heard it initially like, night out with the boys, I probably shouldn’t but hell, don’t mind if I do. I’m gonna have one and I’ll have three or four. And I didn’t write it that way but I like that you could kind of go either way when you hear that, and I think it’s interesting and maybe draws people to the project as a whole”
Don’t Mind If I Do is Riley Green’s third studio album. Each of his albums is a reflection of who Riley is and his lifestyle, but he explains what makes this new album different and even more representative of who he is.
Riley Green – how Don’t Mind is different :53
“I think it comes from the timing of my writing for it. You know, I’m at definitely the biggest point in my career. I mean, things have grown so much over the last few years, and it’s been a great ride, but I think I’ve gotten to a place where now there’s a motivation from a different place. In the beginning, I was motivated because I thought, man, I have a chance to kind of make it. And now it’s proven that it’s working, and I’ve gotten to a certain place where there’s not really pressure to try to make it. it’s more, I know what’s working, I know what my fans like, and I know how to do what I’m doing. So, my writing is, if anything, maybe getting more consistent. I mean, I’m writing more songs by myself, which is harder because it’s hard to make yourself pick a guitar up after you play four shows in a row and come up with something. So, when I write a song by myself, that means I’m really passionate about the idea. That means I really want to write that song. So, it’s a lot of that kind of rolled in with, I went back and cut some songs that I really like that I’d always liked, that some other people wrote. I think it’s what makes this project kind of special to me.”
