As Darius Rucker prepares to release his upcoming album 'Homegrown Honey,' the singer says this project will have a more upbeat tone than fans have seen from him.

Rucker released the title single off the album in early September, and its music video earlier this month, and surprised fans with the country party song, which he says is emblematic of the album in general.

"We wanted to have a little more fun with this record ... I think it's going to end up a little more fun," he says. "That's one of the things that really attracted me to this song and made me so proud of it -- I had never done anything like this before in country music, I'd never done a big party song before. It brought out a cool side of fun for me."

Rucker's previous album, 'True Believers,' had a more serious tone, and Rucker assures fans that the new album won't be a complete departure for him, despite the slight change in tempo.

"There's going to be some fun songs on the record, but just like I always do, you always write some songs about relationships and family because they always come up, and it's always some good song that you can't not record," he says. "I realized with this record that I can't go into any record saying, 'I want to do this.' I have to go into a record and let the songs dictate what I do."

The singer also recently announced the release of a Christmas album on Oct. 27, featuring a duet with Sheryl Crow on 'Baby It's Cold Outside.' The album is available for preorder on Amazon.

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