Audacy's Katie Neal welcomes Keith Urban to our airwaves as this week’s co-host for the Superstar Power Hour on all your favorite Audacy Country stations nationwide.

During his time on the The Superstar Power Hour with Audacy’s Katie Neal, the 56-year-old shared his next project is a product of a lot of hard-work, soul searching, and honesty.

After one year of working hard on what he believed would be his next studio album, Urban realized he missed the mark while presenting the new music to the team at his record label. “Each song was very strong unto itself, but when I put them together, it wasn’t the album,” Urban said of the first collection he presented to his team in February 2023. While the realization was heartbreaking, Urban knew he owed it to himself and his fans to take things back to the drawing board and make an album he was proud of.

“I could feel, ‘this is not it,’  and I so didn’t want to say that,” he expressed before taking a deep breath, recalling the painful realization. “I so wish I could’ve just said, ‘It’s fine… let’s go.’”

The decision to go back to the drawing board set a lot of original plans back for Urban, including touring. However, by staying true to himself, and buckling down for another year of work — Urban says he now has an album he knows is it and oozes the strong, relentless spirit that lead him to it.

“There’s a spirit on the record that’s through every song — no matter what the songs are — it’s a very strong, through line,” he shared, revealing a lot of it is inspired by ideas expressed in the book The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin.

So what does all of this sound like? Fans can get a taste if what’s to come with recently released, ”Messed Up As Me,” and “Straight Line,” which will both be included on the album in addition to a special collaboration and “more guitar solos” according to Urban.

“This record is full of guitar,” Keith said after sharing his producer, Dan Huff, prompted him to ponder why he doesn’t have as much guitar in his recent songs. “The tracks made me want to play.”

And for the collaboration? Well, Urban is keeping that under tight wraps for now, but it’s a secret he’s ready to spill soon as he’s been keeping it for almost a year. “I did a collaboration with an artist last summer that I think turned out fantastic,” he revealed. “I’ve just been sitting on it since June last year and it’s been killing me.” That’s pretty much all Urban is willing to reveal about the track for now — other than the fact it’s very much a collaboration, not a duet — which makes the possibilities even more endless.

“A friend of mine had suggested a collaboration — it’s not a duet, it’s a collaboration,” Urban said of reviving a song he’s had for some time. “I had somebody in mind, and I sent it to them and they loved it and we did it last summer we were just elated with how it turned out.”

Hear more hints about what’s to come, plus some of his most touching stories from his past by checking out Keith Urban’s entire conversation with Audacy’s Katie Neal on the Superstar Power Hour above.

Words by Monica Rivera Interview by Katie Neal