Warner Music NashvilleEven though Cole Swindell’s sophomore effort takes its title from the multi-week number one he wrote about the loss of his dad, the die-hard Georgia Southern fan warns you shouldn’t expect an album’s worth of songs like “You Should Be Here.”
“I want everybody to know it’s not 12 ‘You Should Be Here’ songs,” he points out. “They all can’t be like that. I think that’s what makes that one so special. But there’s fun stuff on this album that I think that will remind people of the first album, the fun side of me. But then also, not just dealing with loss, but breakups and heartbreak, stuff like that, like ‘Ain’t Worth the Whiskey,’ there’s some more songs like that that are just, I cannot wait to play live!”
Having written eight songs that have already made it to number one — including five he sang himself — Cole considers it a point of pride that nearly half of his new album is made up of tunes contributed by other people.
“You know, me being a songwriter, and proud of that, I’m proud of the songs I write. There’s five songs on this album that I did not write, that I wish I would’ve written,” he confesses. “You know, you work really hard to be able to say that, that your favorite writers are sending you songs now. Honestly, I know how hard that is to get songs, to write ’em and I think I’ve put together — I want to have 12 great songs — I want ’em to buy the album and not have to switch a song.”
The full You Should Be Here album arrives in stores and online on Friday. It includes Cole’s new single, “Middle of a Memory.”
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