Chris Young has a new album coming out this fall. I Didn’t Come Here To Leave will be out on October 17. Keep reading to find out everything to know about his next project.

The Record Label:

Young’s next album is his first on Black River Entertainment. Young spent his entire career, after winning Nashville Star in 2006, on RCA Nashville.

Why He Switched Record Labels:

When announcing the news, Young said it was just time for a change. He also revealed he planned on taking meetings with several record labels, but felt at home as soon as he met with Black River Entertainment.

“I had the chance to be a free agent. I felt sort of like an athlete a little bit,” Young recalls. “I was prepared to take all these [label] meetings, and I went in and [Black River Records] were the first meeting. By the end of that meeting, I told them, ‘I want to be here.’”

The First Single From His New Album:

The first song Young released from the record is his current single, “‘Til the Last One Dies.”  The song, already in the Top 40, was written by Ben Hayslip, Seth Mosley, and Jordan Walker.

“I just thought the message on this one was so perfect,” Young tells Audacy. “I went to every single one of my friends, male, female, whatever, that were married or in a relationship, and they were all just blown away by this song, so I was like, ‘Okay, we gotta go with this one first. It’s just too perfect.’”

The Title Track:

Young also released the title track of I Didn’t Come Here To Leave. Young penned the song with Kyle Fishman and Dallas Davidson. The rowdy song says in part, “I didn’t come here to leave, I want the whole bottle / I didn’t come in for one, I came in full throttle / Between the bartenders and friends I ain’t seen / No way I’m leavin’ at two, I didn’t come here to leave.”

What Other Songs Are On The New Project:

Young has yet to release any other songs from his new project, but he did tease a song called “Some Around Here.” He also shares that he is writing some, but not all, of the songs on the album.

“It’s not the only one that’s going to be on the project that I wasn’t a writer on,” Young tells Country 102.5, speaking of “‘Til the Last One Dies.” “I’ve had songs before that have been singles that I wasn’t a writer on. I obviously sang and produced this one. But I found it. Someone played it for me right after these guys wrote it, and I was just like, ‘Oh God. That’s really, really good. I gotta cut that.”

What Will Be Different About Young’s Next Record:

Young released a total of nine albums on RCA Nashville, including the holiday It Must Be Christmas in 2016, and Young Love & Saturday Nights, his final album on the label. With Black River Entertainment, Young is feeling more creative and inspired than ever before.

“I think this is really just about having a whole lot of freedom,” Young tells Audacy. “The ability to, if I wanna do a song where I’ve just got steel guitar all over it, that’s totally fine. If I want to do something where I’m standing in the studio with two of my good friends, stomping with a mic set up next to our feet to get part of a track that we want like a stomp clap thing, and all of us just like laughing, telling jokes and goofing off, that’s totally okay.”

“You get to just make art,” he adds. “It’s never perfect. It’s always abandoned, but you work as hard on it as you possibly can.”

The Significance Of His Album Release Date:

October 17 is a significant date for Young, for more reasons than just his album release. It is also the eighth anniversary of when Young became a Grand Ole Opry member. He was inducted by Brad Paisley, after Vince Gill invited him to join.

“Now it’s not just that I went to Bill Anderson’s fan club party, which I did before I had my record deal. It’s not just that I went fishing with Little Jimmy Dickens,” Young said at the time (via The Tennessean). “It’s not just those stories now. It’s that I’m also in that family, and it means the world to me.”

His Goal With I Didn’t Come Here To Leave:

Young has already had hit records. Now, his goal is much more personal than sales or chart positions.

“At this point in my career, I hope someone listens to this album and says ‘Wow, he dug deep,’” Young explains. “The funny thing is, I’m here saying ‘Yeah, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever made,’ and I believe it wholeheartedly. It’s wild to step back and see a really long list of things I’ve gotten to do already … But I didn’t come here to leave.”

Keep track of updates at ChrisYoungCountry.com.