In an interview with Rolling Stone Country, the Zac Brown Band leader talked about his love for both country and EDM music and where he drew the line on the band's 2015 album Jekyll + Hyde. Despite some criticism for this approach, Brown has been enjoying the songs on the road and only wants to continue with this strategy, saying that he's working on new EDM songs for the next Zac Brown Band album.
Brown's renewed focus on the dance genre comes after collaborating with Avicii on the Swedish DJ's new single "Broken Arrow." Now, it's clear we can expect much more of the same as Brown embarks on a fall tour in which he'll be writing most of the songs.
Jekyll + Hyde's opening track "Beautiful Drug" is compared to an Avicii-style EDM song in the interview, for the song's combination of electronic beats and heavy guitar use. Brown said it's been received well live and has only encouraged him to explore the genre more.
"You can de-select the songs that you don't want to have on the record, but I hope we always put something out that has a lot of songs that the majority of people will love. So I'm working on new electronic music, and we'll be writing the new Zac Brown Band record along the way," Brown said to close out the interview.
Brown also discusses how the previous album has been criticized for not being a country album, but he's embracing the unbundling power of the Internet, saying there are plenty of country songs for long-time fans to enjoy on the album as well as heavy rock, jazz and EDM fans if they are willing to deconstruct the album a bit.
The Jekyll + Hyde LP is an eclectic mix of songs from all sorts of genres, but stays largely grounded in country. There's a jazzy Van Morrison-tinged duet between Brown and Sara Bareilles that works surprisingly well, and it's able to sit comfortably next to the No. 1 rock hit "Heavy Is The Head" featuring Chris Cornell.
A renewed fall tour kicks of Friday (September 18) at Kaaboo Del Mar Fest in California, check out all the dates on the band's website. Read the full interview over at Rolling Stone Country and watch Brown talk about his EDM song "Beautiful Drug" below.
