Blake Shelton Says His Life Influenced the Heavier, Darker Sound of ‘If I’m Honest’
His soulful 10th album is a sonic departure from his past records.
Blake Shelton’s personal life has had its ups and downs this year, and his new music reflects that.
Appearing on “1 on 1” with Larry Flick on Friday, the country crooner agreed that his soulful 10th album, “If I’m Honest,” is a sonic departure from his past records.
“I think ’cause life was a bit heavier and darker there for a while, and then it came out of it. That’s the cool thing, as far as the sequencing of the album, I think that’s a cool thing that we did. We stuck with pretty much the timeline of how last year into the beginning of this year went for me,” he said. “I’m a country singer, and I try to dump as much of my own personal experiences into my music as I humanly can and still have people somewhat be able to relate to it.”
He added, “I wanted to stick with the timeline of how things went for me, starting with pretty good to bottom falls out and climbing back out of that hole, and that’s kind of how the second half of the album is, is things are turning around and getting better until they’re happy again.”
Shelton, 40, divorced Miranda Lambert in July 2015 and is now dating fellow “The Voice” coach Gwen Stefani, who recently opened up to Howard Stern about finding love after both their marriages fell apart.
“We just started this friendship, which was just unbelievable that God would put us in the position to have each other in that moment, in the same exact moment,” she said.
Shelton also discussed dreaming up his single “Save Your Shadow” and the pressures of going from musician to tabloid-favorite celebrity.
“1 on 1” with Larry Flick airs weekdays from 3–4pm ET on Entertainment Weekly Radio.
