Keith Urban Critiques The ‘Current Movement’ Of Country

Keith Urban has offered up his thoughts on the current wave of country music that’s seen the genre become more popular than ever before, even inspiring mainstream pop and R&B artists such as Lana Del Rey, Beyonce, and Post Malone to work on country music.

According to the Australian/American music star, musicians and fans alike continue to latch onto country music because of the “storytelling” inherent in the genre.

“The centre of country music is storytelling, great storytelling,” Urban told Country Now in a recent interview. “It doesn’t have to be the deepest, most extraordinary, award-winning poetry, but it’s got to be a relatable story, a real story, and I think that’s what’s happening right now. There’s a desire and a craving for truth.”

Musing about why audiences are latching on to the most popular country artists today, think Lainey Wilson, Morgan Wallen or Jelly Roll, Urban asks himself (and believes listeners do the same), “What’s the centre of what you’re trying to say? And can I feel that in this song?”

Urban thinks that modern country artists and audiences are craving authenticity that’s sometimes “absent”, which can be achieved by returning to “basics”.

He explained, “In this current movement, I think it’s really born of getting down to the basics, an acoustic guitar and a singer telling a story without all the trickery.

“I think we’ve just been sort of processed and faked out to such a degree that the audience is just craving something that they can feel is real. And it’s good to know we still need it, crave it, and can recognise when there’s an absence of it.”

You can read the full interview here.

Urban recently released a new single, Straight Line, the first single from his forthcoming, currently announced new album. The new LP will follow 2020’s The Speed Of Now Pt 1. Check out the music video for Straight Line below.

In October, Urban was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame alongside Kix Brooks, of Brooks & Dunns fame, and fellow songwriters Casey Beathard, David Lee Murphy and Rafe Van Hoy.