One of the first tracks that Keith Urban unveiled as a preview to his latest album, High, was the captivating “Straight Line.” Now, this song is headed to radio and officially set to impact airwaves on January 21. To celebrate, he pulls back the curtain to reveal the story behind the song and the spontaneous burst of creativity in the studio that ultimately brought it to life.

Urban has been blessed with an incredible ear for music that allows him to blend tones and instruments in a way that seamlessly creates layers of sound, a process we often don’t get to see as listeners. While reflecting on the makings of “Straight Line,” Urban explained how even the smallest details can make a huge difference.

“I love textures in songs. Even in the second verse of ‘Straight Line,’ there’s a line in there that I really love—‘finally leaving Hotel California’ – and the reason that I love that line so much is just because I thought what’s the ultimate statement of finally getting out and breaking out? And that lyric in ‘Hotel California’ by the Eagles, it says, ‘You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.’”

The overall story of the song penned by Urban with Chase McGill, Greg Wells and Jerry Flowers hones in one’s desire to take his love interest by the hand, leave the burn out in the rear view and embark on a journey to finding ultimate happiness. The particular line that Urban is referring to appears just after the first chorus and helps emphasize that intoxicating theme of freedom found throughout the entire album.

He goes on to reveal how he stumbled upon the missing piece that ultimately made the song feel finished and ready to share with the world.

“Obviously, the ultimate release would be finally leaving ‘Hotel California,’ and when that moment happened when we were making the record and we had a little breakdown, I was like it’s still missing something, and so I went out and did like ‘Whoo!’ ‘Hey!’ And I’m like, party of one in the background with chinking glasses and stuff like that,” he shared. “It’s just this little celebratory texture that you hear just in the background. So, those things take so long when I’m making records, because the ideas come when they come.”

“Straight Line” appears as the first track on Urban’s High album, which marked his first full-length release in nearly four years. As he explained, while the process may have taken longer than anticipated he feels that the extra time was exactly what the album needed. He also previously shared that High was supposed to be a completely different album.

It was originally a project titled 615, but what he found while putting together this collection of songs was that he was lacking the kind of “musical adventure” he strives to create. After discarding the plans for that concept, the Australian singer/songwriter went back into the studio and “Straight Line” was one of the songs that evolved from that first writing session.

He began his new approach by going into the studio with a few friends and decided, “we’re just going to have a blast and see what happens.”

“’Chuck Taylor’s’ came of that day and then the very next day we wrote ‘Straight Line,’” Urban previously told Country Now and other outlets. “So it’s no coincidence that those two songs are bristling with a big, sort of released energy. I felt like I’d been released into the wild in a really great way. And those were really exciting songs to write.”

“Straight Line” was among the tracks that gave fans an early glimpse into the project, alongside “Messed Up As Me,” “Wildside,” “Go Home W U” feat. Lainey Wilson, and “Heart Like A Hometown.” He recently performed the energized song in front of a record crowd of approximately 220,000 people during the CBS live televised special, New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash.

Keith Urban will continue celebrating his newest album on the upcoming HIGH AND ALIVE World Tour, which kicks off in May. For more information on his 2025 tour dates, visit keithurban.com.

The post Keith Urban Dives Into The Making Of His New Single, ‘Straight Line’ appeared first on Country Now.