Luke Combs’ ‘What You See Is What You Get’ Features Eric Church, Brooks & Dunn
Luke Combs unveiled the track list for his forthcoming second album, What You See Is What You Get, in its entirety on Monday evening (Oct. 7). A mixture of exciting new surprises and longtime setlist favorites, the new batch of songs features both Brooks & Dunn (on the already released "1, 2 Many") and Combs' idol Eric Church (on a song called "Does to Me").
"It's just so cool, you know, because I think [Church]'s a guy that really picks and chooses the things he does pretty meticulously," Combs told The Boot and other outlets during an album preview at his home outside Nashville. "It was neat for him to agree to do it, because he doesn't do a ton of that stuff. And it's just been a full-circle thing, for me. He's kind of why I got into doing this, anyway."
Combs goes on to say that his collaboration with Church is particularly special because he worked hard to ensure that the song they perform together was one that Church truly loved.
"That's the message that I tried to convey when I sent it over -- like, 'Hey, man, I don't want you to do it if you don't like it. I don't want you to do it because you want to help me out, or whatever that may be,'" Combs continues. "I wanted him to go, 'I like this song, and I want to do it because I'm in.' So I think that's the coolest part for me, is that he was willing to do it on those terms."
The singer also indicates that What You See Is What You Get will show a softer side of his personality, brought out in part by his relationship with his fiancee, Nicole Hocking. The new album's final track, "Better Together," speaks to the evolution of their relationship -- and, Combs says, more tracks inspired by his real-life love story are sure to come.
"I wrote that one when me and my fiancee hadn't even started dating yet. I think there's definitely gonna be stuff, with us being engaged now, and eventually we'll be married and have a family," he muses. "I think there will always be some sort of something like that somewhere in my music."
More specifically, "Better Together" and another love song on the new project, "Nothing Like You," were inspired by the ways in which life as a touring artist tests a relationship.
"Before she stopped working, that was really hard, because she was working a 40-hour-a-week job. I can't even begin to explain the toll [being long-distance] takes on a relationship," Combs admits. "I was constantly gone, and constantly leaving her, but I took a lot of solace in the fact of knowing I was coming back to her, too.
"I think there will always be songs about Nicole on all my records. I hope they don't get to be too gushy -- but "Beautiful Crazy" was pretty gushy," he adds with a laugh.
On the whole, Combs concludes, he didn't stray too far from the musical model that made his debut album so successful. "I would say it's more of the same -- in a good way," he jokes.
"I feel like more of the same sounds bad sometimes, but if the last record went from here to here -- I just tried to take [the second album] a little bit wider on the side, from a production standpoint ... but I'm proud of it, and I'm proud of the work we did on it," Combs reflects. "I definitely care what people think about it, but I don't have any regrets as far as recording it, or the way it sounds."
Luke Combs, "What You See Is What You Get" Track Listing:
1. "Beer Never Broke My Heart"
2. "Refrigerator Door"
3. "Even Though I'm Leaving"
4. "Lovin' on You"
5. "Moon Over Mexico"
6. "1, 2 Many" (feat. Brooks & Dunn)
7. "Blue Collar Boys"
8. "New Every Day"
9. "Reasons"
10. "Every Little Bit Helps"
11. "Dear Today"
12. "What You See Is What You Get"
13. "Does to Me" (feat. Eric Church)
14. "Angels Workin' Overtime"
15. "All Over Again"
16. "Nothing Like You"
17. "Better Together"
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