Zac Brown is making his foray into the pop world.
In a surprise move, the Grammy-winning musician released his first-ever pop solo album,The Controversy,on Friday, just one week after his eponymously titledZac Brown Banddropped their new cross-over country album,The Owl.
“I wanted to create all these other genres of music that I love to do,” Brown, 41, says in a video shared to his YouTube page aboutThe Controversy. “Some of the guys in my band played on these records. We’re still going to perform some of them at Zac Brown Band shows.”
Brown goes on to say that it’s “unfortunate” that he’s limited to choosing just one genre to put a new album under.
“With a Zac Brown Band record, it has to be under country,” he explains. “I wish that there was a category that was a little broader than that because I love country, but I love other things, too. So this is my outlet. This is my chance to be an artist and be creative and it’s another side.”
“The goal as an artist is to be able to create the kind of music that you want to listen to soControversy, in itself, is all the diversity that I love [which] causes controversy with people because some people only like certain things, but I like a lot of different things,” he continues. “And some people do, too. I’m hoping this can bridge the gap [of needing] a specific label. I don’t want a specific label. I gave birth to all of this stuff, and I’m super proud of it and I’m super excited for people to get it and hopefully people can connect with it.”
Zac Brown’sThe Controversyalbum cover.
To createThe Controversy, Brown collaborated with a number of producers and writers across the industry including Sasha Sirota, Jason ‘Poo Bear’ Boyd, Shroom, Benny Blanco and Max Martin. He collaborated with Skrillex and Poo Bear on the song “Time,” and his longtime Zac Brown Band bandmates are featured on the track, “Lion’s Den.”
Along with “Time” and “Lion’s Den,” other tracks onThe Controversyinclude “Nowhere Left to Go,” “Spend It All On You,” “Swayze” (featuring Sasha Sirota), “Dream Sellin‘” (featuring Sirota and Poo Bear), “This Far” and “Always and Never.”
Despite having a solo project, Brown will continue publishing music with his Zac Brown Band bandmates and touring with them as a group. The group’s new album,The Owl, is their first since 2017’sWelcome Home.
Diego Pernía
In a press release,The Owlis described as showing a “deeper side of Zac Brown Band,” and it follows the frontman’sseparation from jewelry designer Shelly Brown last year.
“As an artist, I’ve never wanted to be stuck in a box. Any fan who has followed my career from the beginning has always heard me bringing different genres and sounds into every record, whether it’s Zac Brown Band or this solo project.Jekyll + Hydehad everything from bluegrass to electronic, and we just releasedThe Owllast week, which includes many tracks that aren’t country at all,” Brown tells PEOPLE exclusively. “‘God Given,’ for example, is very rock and pop-leaning, and while it sounds like we are singing about Gucci bags, diamonds and G5’s being cool, really it’s about a naturally beautiful woman who doesn’t need any of that because what she’s got is God-given.The Controversyhas allowed me to take things we explore inThe Owlto the next level and lean into all of the genres of music that I love.”
At the 2019 CMT Awards in June, the band accepted the group video of the year award for their hit “Someone I Used to Know.” Brown, who accepted the award on behalf of his bandmates, used his speech to make a statement.
“For you young artists who have courage to stand up against the machine, be yourself, work hard and one day you can stand up here and tell all the haters to f— off,” he said.
source: people.com
