Blake Shelton‘s For Recreational Use Only is out on Friday, May 9. The record is his first since Body Language in 2021, and is a record he at one time wasn’t sure he would ever make. But when Post Malone asked Shelton to join him on “Pour Me A Drink,” for his F-1 Trillion album, Shelton realized he was still relevant in country music — and still wanted to be part of the genre he has been in for almost 25 years.
“You can’t step back and then expect to step back in, and anybody would still be waiting on you,” Shelton reflects to American Songwriter. “I remember just being blown away that Post Malone even thought of me—’Really? Do you think he meant to call me?’”
The collaboration came after Shelton admits he had been burned out by his career. Between making records and being on The Voice for 23 seasons, Shelton was tired. When he walked away from The Voice, he thought he might be walking away from a career entirely.
“For a few years there, I was having a pretty hot streak in country music, and I happened to also be on the No. 1 television show at the same time,” Shelton says. “Trying to bounce back and be sure you don’t lose momentum in this lane, but you have to do this job. You signed up to do it. And eventually, it did do a number on me.”
But when Post Malone called, and the song became an almost instant hit, it lit a fire in Shelton, one he could only quench by making another album.
“I started thinking, ‘Man, what am I doing? Nobody gets to do this,’” Shelton recalls. “I need to make a record. That was fun. What I realized is that I’d had the break that I needed.”
View this post on Instagram
Shelton got to work on what became For Recreational Use Only, which is also his first album on BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville,.
“With this amount of time between new music, it’s almost like a reintroduction,” Shelton says. While some artists might have made a big deal about a return, for Shelton, it’s just about the msuic.
“I’ve never been somebody who’s trying to make some kind of a statement with an album,” he explains, “I’ve just always been someone who wants to collect great songs. I know it’s subject to opinion, but I look back at some of these songs that I’ve had and just go, ‘Man, I’m really, really proud.’”
Shelton just had a No. 1 hit with “Texas,” the debut single from For Recreational Use Only. The song also marked Shelton’s 30th time to sit at the top of the charts.
“I’ve always been a nerd for stats and things like that in country music,” Shelton says. “I’m always looking up artists, whether it’s Ronnie Milsap or Alabama or George Strait or Reba, just to see how many albums they’ve sold or how many number ones they’ve had. And because of that, the idea of me having 30 number one singles, it blows my mind. I can’t even wrap my head around it, because I know how long it takes to get there, and how hard it is, and how blessed and lucky you have to be to get here.”
Pre-order For Recreational Use Only at BlakeShelton.com.