The Shires Return with Third Studio Album, ‘Good Years’

After dropping their 2018 album Accidentally on Purpose, groundbreaking British country duo The Shires will return to the U.S. with a brand-new LP, titled Good Years, out March 13. 

Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, the upcoming project includes 12 tracks, with the duo, which consists of Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle, having writing credits on 10. The album was produced by Lindsay Rimes and features the handiwork of some of country’s finest songwriters like Cam, Bob DiPiero and Canaan Smith.

“The way we approach the songwriting is that we always start with a lyric,” Earle shares. “We’ve both got loads of titles on our phones. You sit down in a room and say, ‘what can we say today?’”

For the UK group, their best songs are the ones that come from a more personal place like “Crazy Days,” which for Earle is about balancing his role of being a dad and his career.

“It’s amazing what people share with us about that,” he said. “That’s what country is for us.”

Good Years will mark The Shires’ return to country music, and it will mean more opportunities for the duo to make the trip to Music City. “We just love landing on that runway and feeling like, ‘Ah. Here we are. We’re back,’” Rhodes explained. “It feels great every single time.”

The Shires’ Good Years Track Listing:

1. “Lightning Strikes” (Josh Williams, Camaron Ochs, Evan Bogart)
2. “On The Day I Die” (Ben Earle, Peter Hammerton, Fiona Bevan)
3. “Good Years” (Dan Couch, Ben Earle, Crissie Rhodes, Canaan Smith)
4. “No Secrets” (Ben Earle, Danny Shah, Sky Adams)
5. “About Last Night” (Katya Edwards, Rachel Furner)
6. “New Year” (Ben Earle, Kaity Rae)
7. “Only Always” (Ben Earle, Kaity Rae)
8. “Independence Day” (Ben Earle, Peter Hammerton, Fiona Bevan)
9. “Thank You Whiskey” (Ben Earle, Peter Hammerton, Kipp Williams)
10. “People Like Us” (Ben Earle, Bob DiPiero, Jeff Garrison)
11. “Better Place” (Ben Earle, Kara Dioguardi, Jeff Cohen, Crissie Rhodes)
12. “Crazy Days” (Ben Earle)