Lady Antebellum decided to take it back to the start with Ocean, a brand new album that echoes their earliest work. Their familiar harmonies and heartaches are on full display on the Top 10 single, “What If I Never Get Over You.”
After more than a decade together, Lady A partnered with a different record label and producer to bring Ocean to life. In the video below, band members Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, and Hillary Scott tell CMT.com about their latest project.
CMT: How does Ocean compare to your previous albums?
Scott: All of our albums have felt very personal, for sure, but this one I think is the most present.
Kelley: The most vulnerable.
Scott: Vulnerable, where we are in our life right now, talking about our families and our children. You know, our deepest, darkest inner struggles. I mean, we just really bare it all in these songs.
CMT: Where did the title, Ocean, come from?
Scott: An ocean brings up so many emotions. You can feel so small standing on the shore, and scared because the waves are crashing around you. You can feel free, you can feel so many different things. And this record I think touches on all of those emotions.
Kelley: In waves. There are a lot of ups and downs on this record. Also, too, we really wanted an art piece. The song “Ocean” to me is such an art piece and one of Hillary’s best vocals. I always think when people buy a record they go straight to [the title track]. I think we all were like, “I really want people to hear that song.”
CMT: What was it like collaborating with Little Big Town?
Kelley: Collaborating with LBT, that has been something we’ve been talking about doing with them for the last, I would say, five years. Every time we’re in a late night having a glass of wine together, we’re like, “We should work together. I mean, how cool would that be? Seven voices on one song!”
I kind of put them on the spot. I said, “Y’all, I’ve got two songs I really want you to hear. And they really fell in love with “The Thing That Wrecks You.” I’m so proud of how it came out. It was a master class in vocals, wasn’t it?
Scott: There’s so much non-verbal understanding, it’s amazing.
Kelley: They know exactly where their parts should be. It’s really cool.
Scott: We feel that way to a point, too, being together for 13 years. But watching four voices and four-part harmony, it was like going to school.
CMT: What does working with a new producer mean for fans?
Haywood: It was our very first time working with Dann Huff, so when you have an outside opinion coming in, being able to help you pick songs, tell you what they see and think about Lady Antebellum, it helps us navigate. It felt like we were making our first record again.
We had that excitement. And I think sonically and musically, it felt like some of the earlier Lady A stuff. A new producer for us, from a fan standpoint, means new energy, new excitement on the songs, and hopefully you can hear that through the music.