Dierks Bentley Talks Album of the Year, New Music

Dierks Bentley has seven nominations at this years' ACM Awards, but there's one nod in particular that means more to him than the others.

Bentley is up for Male Vocalist, Song, Single Record, Video and Vocal Event of the Year at the awards ceremony, which takes place Sunday, April 19, but the statue he really hopes to take home is Album of the Year for his 2014 release, Riser.

“Yeah, album’s what I really want," he tells The Boot. "I put a lot of time into making records and I think in this day and age, you know, with there being such a singles-driven market, I feel like in a way it is good for fans because people that want to make great albums really have to make great albums - you really have to go out there and make a full body of work or else people aren’t going to buy it.

"This record, I really feel like it was, top to bottom, every song had a reason, a point [and] enhanced the record. So, yeah, that’d be a special award for me.”

The singer is the second most-nominated artist this year behind Miranda Lambert's eight nods. He says that he's been spending a lot of time working on a new music lately, but he's not sure he's quite ready to let go of Riser.

“I’ve been in the studio, cut like nine things, and I’m feeling pretty good about it," he says. "At the same time, I’m doing ‘Riser’ at the awards show on Sunday and I’d love to get that out as a single ... But that’s the process of making a record, it’s a whole cycle. It’s like, okay, acceptance that Riser is over. I hate to move off this record."

"It’s a long process, but … it should be, it should be a lot of work," he continues. "It should be something that’s hard and when it gets done, it should sound like it was just something that rolled off the tip of your tongue, like a great song.”

When working on a new album, Bentley says that regardless of whether he's writing a party song or a ballad, one of the hardest things is figuring out what he wants to say with the music.

"I’m still trying to figure out what I’m trying to say, you know? To be honest, I feel like everything I’ve put out, I’ve really wanted to say something - whether it’s a party song that I want to say ‘I want to party’ or a heavier song, just trying to find something that has meat to it," he says. "I feel like Riser was one of my better records, so I really want to make something that equals that, whether it’s similar or different. [I'm] just listening for new sounds and ideas and trying to write stuff that’s not common. There’s a lot of work getting ready to happen, but it’s good. I look forward to it. [I’m] lucky to be able to do it.”

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