Chase Rice Releases Surprise Project, ‘The Album Part I’
New music from Rice has arrived!
Chase Rice surprised fans today by officially releasing his new project, The Album Part I. The seven-song album features his current single, “Lonely If You Are,” as well as six new songs. Rice chatted with Sounds Like Nashville about why he decided to release The Album in a surprising fashion.
“Really just because I’ve talked about it so much for so long,” explains Rice of the surprise release. “It all kind of happened naturally. It wasn’t like it was planned. A lot of it was really, really natural. . . It’s really the first time I’ve figured out who I am and what I want to say and how I want to say it. I talked about it so much leading up to it that it was like, ‘Alright, let’s just drop the damn thing.’”
This album opens up a bit of a new chapter for Rice in terms of his music. He’s been working on this group of songs for about a year and a half, and says that the process of making this album was different than projects he’s released in the past.
“I’ve never focused on music before as my number one thing,” he says. “I’ve always enjoyed the party, I’ve enjoyed the rock star lifestyle, and now I don’t give a sh— about that anymore. To me, it’s like I only get one chance to really do something special here and I want to take advantage of that, so that’s why I really dove in the last year and a half to become a better singer, a better songwriter, a better producer.”
The Album kicks off on a positive note with “American Nights,” a nostalgic ode to youth written by Francois Tetaz, Kevin Griffin and Martin Johnson. The lead song also sets the tone for the project’s musical style, which is a mix of pop production and acoustic elements. The album then segues into Rice’s current single, “Lonely If You Are,” and then to “Everywhere,” a song about seeing a former love in everyday scenes, which Rice wrote about a past relationship.
“That one is as personal as anything on this record, I think, because when I talk about watching the Red Sox play, I took her Fenway for the first time, and she’d never been to a game there,” he says. “We went there, and now every time I see the Red Sox, I think of her still. After a break up, for the most part, if you really love the person you start to see them everywhere. And with her, it’s 100% true.”
That theme of personal and vulnerable songs continues throughout the album with tunes like “Best Night Ever,” an upbeat tune that Rice wrote about his real-life farm, and “In The Car,” which was also inspired from his life.
In addition to the songs written from Rice’s own personal experience, the project features “Messy,” written by Seth Ennis, Jacob Durrett, and Kylie Sackley, which is an emotional song about loving someone through all their faults and flaws. The project then ends with “Forever To Go,” which tells an epic love story about spending forever with “the one.” Overall, Rice says this album is primarily inspired by “love and love lost,” and he hopes it gives fans new insight into who he is as an artist and a person.
“[I hope] that they just see me in a way they’ve never seen me before,” says Rice. “Maybe a little more vulnerable, maybe a little more love than lust. That’s just where I am in my life. I hope they see me where I am in my life and the journey I’m on.”
Rice says he hopes to release The Album Part 2 in a matter of months.
The Album Part I Track Listing:
1. “American Nights” (Kevin Griffin, Martin Johnson; produced by Martin Johnson)
2. “Lonely If You Are” (Hunter Phelps, Lindsay Rimes, Chase Rice; produced by Chris DeStefano and Chase Rice)
3. “Everywhere” (Zach Kale, James McNair, Chase Rice; produced by Zach Kale)
4. “Best Night Ever” (Chris DeStefano, Matt Jenkins, Chase Rice; produced by Chris DeStefano)
5. “Messy” (Seth Ennis, Kylie Sackley; produced by Chris DeStefano)
6. “In The Car” (Hunter Phelps, Jesse Rice, Mark Holman, Chase Rice; produced by Chris DeStefano)
7. “Forever To Go” (Jordan Minton, Casey Brown, Geoff Warburton; produced by Casey Brown)
