With sold-out crowds already singing along to the unreleased song making an appearance in Chase Rice’s live set list and preview clips garnering over 1.5 million views on social media, the multi-Platinum singer-songwriter shared directly with fans that the eagerly-awaited full version of “Key West & Colorado” will be available on Friday, July 29.
The reflective song is the latest preview of the forthcoming album Rice recently recorded in his rural Tennessee home-turned-studio. Pre-order / pre-save “Key West & Colorado” HERE.
We have listened to an advance stream of the song and can tell you that there’s an earthy, organic feel to this song. Rice’s vocals are mixed nice & strong over a chilled back guitar and drums. The song builds to a mid-tempo, anthemic chorus that demands to be sung along to. It’s a step-forward for Rice, you can hear the evolution in his sound, maturity being a big watch-word too.
The song was one of the first recorded for the project during that marathon at-home session, with Rice describing it as “the heart of the record.” Written by Rice together with childhood friend/longtime collaborator Brian Kelley plus Corey Crowder, Blake Pendergrass, John Byron and Hunter Phelps on a writing retreat in Grayton Beach, Florida, the midtempo song chronicles the literal journey of coming to terms with a relationship’s end.
The song also represents a sonic shift for Rice, who teamed with producer Oscar Charles to fill his living room with a vintage stand-up piano, guitars, drums and percussion, bass and keyboards while leaving out some of his usual recording tools. For the first time in his career, Rice recorded for the new project with no click track, no pre-programmed music beds – and in many cases, one-take vocals. “I had started writing songs at home with just me and a guitar whenever the inspiration hit me; instead of heading downtown and trying to crank something out during a scheduled writing session,” explains Rice of the transformation in his creative process. “I realized that bringing the writing room into my real life – my farm, duck camp, a vacation with my friends – whatever that might look like, was making for some really great songs. So, when we started talking about getting into the studio – what that should look and feel like – I realized we already had the answer. It should feel like home”.
