Little Big Town’s ‘Wanderlust’ Is ‘Not a Country Record’
“It’s not a country record,” Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town said to Billboard. “And it’s not like anything we’ve ever done."
Expecting the unexpected is exactly the kind of motive Little Big Town is going for with their surprise album with Pharrell.
The country quartet serendipitously decided to work together with the music mogul on a new record of sorts, creating an eight-track album called Wanderlust, which fans can enjoy come June 10. But this time around, the music won’t be the typical country tracks LBT fans are used to hearing through their speakers.
“It’s not a country record,” Karen Fairchild said to Billboard. “And it’s not like anything we’ve ever done. It’s fun to be spontaneous and put it out there to the fans, because we want to, and not to overthink it, but just because it has brought us a lot of joy, and we think it will for them as well. So why not? We’re going with our gut and putting it out there. It’s just music, you know?”
The secret collaboration started months ago, as Fairchild remembers one of their first sessions together happened during the big Nashville snowstorm back in January. The rest is history. The band and Pharrell hit it off, resulting in the anticipated album and a great work relationship between them all.
“We respect him so much that we wanted something fantastic to come out of it, but that doesn’t always happen when you put so much pressure on a writing situation,” explained Fairchild. “But luckily it did happen. He loves southern harmonies — he’s from Virginia — and is a big fan of country music. He’s good at anything, and such a joy to be around. This music is fun and inspiring, and very hopeful for what’s going on in our crazy world these days. Hopefully it’ll bring a lot of smiles and dancing to people.”
Little Big Town notes, though, that this new record won’t determine which genre they plan to move forward in. Fairchild told Billboard that the group has still been working on music in their country roots with Jay Joyce, who produced their last album, Pain Killer.
With promotion for Wanderlust in a whirlwind, Little Big Town plans to not disappoint the hype of its release. They’ve got some plans up their sleeves and those plans may even involve a little mash-up of pop, country and hip-hop if Pharrell hops on board.
“We’re lucky to be Grand Ole Opry members, and I don’t know if we can talk him into that, but wouldn’t that be fun, to invite Pharrell to the Opry and introduce him to Nashville? He’s gonna love everybody there,” admitted Fairchild.
Wanderlust is the follow-up to 2014’s Pain Killer, and will be released on June 10.
