HUNTER
HAYES’ WILD BLUE (PART I) DROPS
Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, PEOPLE, Rolling Stone, USA Today
Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, PEOPLE, Rolling Stone, USA Today
NASHVILLE, Tenn. –
48 hours after singer/songwriter/producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist Hunter Hayes revealed his new
album Wild
Blue would be released immediately to the fans months earlier than
expected, and it’s finally here.
Release Date: 16 Aug 2019)
Hunter Hayes - Wild Blue, Pt. 1
Label: Warner Music Nashville
10 Tracks/ Time: 33:57
Debut #11 UK Country iTunes Album Chart (#481 UK
iTunes all-genres)
Debut #5 US Country iTunes Album Chart (#38 US
iTunes all-genres)
Released on
longtime label Warner Music Nashville, his brand new 10-song album, WILD BLUE, featuring
the current single “Heartbreak,” was made available on digital
platforms everywhere and hit number one on the iTunes Country Chart.
Rolling Stone notes Hayes builds the album’s title track “around a percussive groove, singing over subtle piano about how the 27-year-old songwriter is undergoing a personal sea change. Funny how you don’t know you can fly until you finally catch the wind, he sings. You think you know the part you play until somebody goes and rewrites the script. And then it all explodes, with Hayes delivering a soaring, cathartic guitar solo before the song returns to its subdued piano origin,” going on to note, “it’s equal parts Ed Sheeran and John Mayer and points to a new self-aware direction for Hayes.”
Billboard adds, “The results are by turns deeply contemplative (“Dear God”), adventurous (“Wild Blue”), resigned. (“One Good Reason”) and, ultimately, uplifting (“Heartbreak,” “Madness”).”
“I wanted Wild Blue to be a place for people to go, not just a series of songs but a world to dive into, but not so specific that you cannot finish the story yourself,” Hayes revealed to USA Today. “I knew that I wanted it to be about flying, or simply the feeling of flying, turbulence included…I was going through a lot of shifts in my life and I knew that the letting go of those things was the only way that I was going to grow and learn how to be human again.”
Hayes wrote/co-wrote all 10 songs on the album, playing multiple instruments on every track. “To me, just having this album tracklisting be all over the map, it’s an introduction to a person versus just an album,” Hayes told PEOPLE Magazine. “I feel like that’s what I dreamed about. That’s what I wanted.”
Listen to Wild Blue (Part I) HERE.
Wild Blue Track Listing and Songwriters are as follows:
1. Madness (Hunter Hayes, Sam Ellis, Sara Haze)
2. Wild Blue (Hunter Hayes, Troy Verges, Gordie Sampson)
3. Heartbreak (Hunter Hayes, Thomas “Tawgs” Salter, Gordie Sampson, Simon Wilcox)
4. One Good Reason (Hunter Hayes, Sam Ellis)
5. Dear God (Hunter Hayes, Andy Grammer, Dave Spencer)*
6. Loving You (Hunter Hayes, Jordan Reynolds, Dave Barnes)
7. My Song Too (Hunter Hayes, Jordan Reynolds, Dave Barnes)
8. One Shot (Hunter Hayes)**
9. Night and Day (Hunter Hayes, Derrick Southerland, Sam Ellis)
10. Still (Hunter Hayes, Troy Verges, Tommee Profitt)^
Produced by Hunter Hayes and Sam Ellis
* Produced by Hunter Hayes and Dave Spencer
** Produced by Hunter Hayes
^ Produced and Engineered by Hunter Hayes
About Hunter Hayes
Country superstar Hunter Hayes has always been relentless in the pursuit of making music that speaks to his fans. With the release of his current single “Heartbreak,” Hayes continues to do just that, as evidenced by its nearly 30 million on-demand streams to date globally. The unexpectedly optimistic anthem about enjoying the journey of searching for a soulmate is the first on his third studio album, out today, and has received praise from outlets such as Rolling Stone, People and Paste, who describe it as “a love-song’s curveball at the traditional breakup narrative.” It is one of four tracks Hayes has released recently, which cumulatively have already received nearly 80 million on-demand streams globally. His first preview of new music off his surprise-released 10-song album, Wild Blue (Part I), to fans was the personal and introspective “Dear God,” co-written with Andy Grammar and Dave Spencer, followed by the fast-paced, rhythmic “One Shot” that features Hayes as the sole writer, and most recently the emotional and personal “One Good Reason.” The Louisiana native has achieved nearly 2 billion on-demand career streams globally since the release of his platinum-certified debut album along with six gold and platinum-certified singles. With over 50 award nominations and wins, including five GRAMMY nominations, the multi-instrumentalist is on the road now with stops at select fairs and festivals throughout the summer (full list of tour dates here).
Rolling Stone notes Hayes builds the album’s title track “around a percussive groove, singing over subtle piano about how the 27-year-old songwriter is undergoing a personal sea change. Funny how you don’t know you can fly until you finally catch the wind, he sings. You think you know the part you play until somebody goes and rewrites the script. And then it all explodes, with Hayes delivering a soaring, cathartic guitar solo before the song returns to its subdued piano origin,” going on to note, “it’s equal parts Ed Sheeran and John Mayer and points to a new self-aware direction for Hayes.”
Billboard adds, “The results are by turns deeply contemplative (“Dear God”), adventurous (“Wild Blue”), resigned. (“One Good Reason”) and, ultimately, uplifting (“Heartbreak,” “Madness”).”
“I wanted Wild Blue to be a place for people to go, not just a series of songs but a world to dive into, but not so specific that you cannot finish the story yourself,” Hayes revealed to USA Today. “I knew that I wanted it to be about flying, or simply the feeling of flying, turbulence included…I was going through a lot of shifts in my life and I knew that the letting go of those things was the only way that I was going to grow and learn how to be human again.”
Hayes wrote/co-wrote all 10 songs on the album, playing multiple instruments on every track. “To me, just having this album tracklisting be all over the map, it’s an introduction to a person versus just an album,” Hayes told PEOPLE Magazine. “I feel like that’s what I dreamed about. That’s what I wanted.”
Listen to Wild Blue (Part I) HERE.
Wild Blue Track Listing and Songwriters are as follows:
1. Madness (Hunter Hayes, Sam Ellis, Sara Haze)
2. Wild Blue (Hunter Hayes, Troy Verges, Gordie Sampson)
3. Heartbreak (Hunter Hayes, Thomas “Tawgs” Salter, Gordie Sampson, Simon Wilcox)
4. One Good Reason (Hunter Hayes, Sam Ellis)
5. Dear God (Hunter Hayes, Andy Grammer, Dave Spencer)*
6. Loving You (Hunter Hayes, Jordan Reynolds, Dave Barnes)
7. My Song Too (Hunter Hayes, Jordan Reynolds, Dave Barnes)
8. One Shot (Hunter Hayes)**
9. Night and Day (Hunter Hayes, Derrick Southerland, Sam Ellis)
10. Still (Hunter Hayes, Troy Verges, Tommee Profitt)^
Produced by Hunter Hayes and Sam Ellis
* Produced by Hunter Hayes and Dave Spencer
** Produced by Hunter Hayes
^ Produced and Engineered by Hunter Hayes
About Hunter Hayes
Country superstar Hunter Hayes has always been relentless in the pursuit of making music that speaks to his fans. With the release of his current single “Heartbreak,” Hayes continues to do just that, as evidenced by its nearly 30 million on-demand streams to date globally. The unexpectedly optimistic anthem about enjoying the journey of searching for a soulmate is the first on his third studio album, out today, and has received praise from outlets such as Rolling Stone, People and Paste, who describe it as “a love-song’s curveball at the traditional breakup narrative.” It is one of four tracks Hayes has released recently, which cumulatively have already received nearly 80 million on-demand streams globally. His first preview of new music off his surprise-released 10-song album, Wild Blue (Part I), to fans was the personal and introspective “Dear God,” co-written with Andy Grammar and Dave Spencer, followed by the fast-paced, rhythmic “One Shot” that features Hayes as the sole writer, and most recently the emotional and personal “One Good Reason.” The Louisiana native has achieved nearly 2 billion on-demand career streams globally since the release of his platinum-certified debut album along with six gold and platinum-certified singles. With over 50 award nominations and wins, including five GRAMMY nominations, the multi-instrumentalist is on the road now with stops at select fairs and festivals throughout the summer (full list of tour dates here).
