Key facts
- Keith Urban's 2026 album "Flow State" will feature 10 yacht rock covers and one original song.
- The album includes a collaboration with Michael McDonald on the original track "We Go Back."
- Urban began recording yacht rock songs as a way to break in his newly restored Nashville studio, The Sound.
- The project evolved from an idea for an EP into a full-length album.
- Urban views yacht rock as a genre that offers an escape and joyfulness, serving as an antidote to current societal divisiveness.
Country music star Keith Urban is set to release "Flow State," a 2026 album that unexpectedly pivots to the yacht rock genre. The album will feature 10 covers of soft rock classics from the 1970s and early 1980s, alongside one original song, "We Go Back," which features music legend Michael McDonald.
Urban described the album's genesis as a surprise even to himself, stemming from an experiment to break in his newly acquired and restored Nashville studio, The Sound. He suggested recording yacht rock songs with session musicians due to the genre's great arrangements and his personal love for it. What began as a few sessions to test the space evolved into a full-length project.
"Flow State" aims to capture the spirit of yacht rock, which Urban defines as a genre characterized by ease and joyfulness, serving as an antidote to the divisiveness and stress of current times. While honoring the originals, Urban and his collaborators, including engineer Mark Dobson, incorporated their own sonic signatures, particularly through extended outros on tracks like "Summer Breeze."
Collaborations on the album include Little Big Town on Walter Egan's "Magnet and Steel" and John Mayer on Bread's "The Guitar Man." The sole original track, "We Go Back," was written by Urban with BRELAND, Sam Sumser, and Sean Small in 2020, with Urban recalling he had imagined Michael McDonald singing it. The opportunity to have McDonald feature on the song years later felt surreal.
Urban also noted that the album's creation coincided with personal challenges, including his divorce from Nicole Kidman. He views "Flow State" as a juxtaposition of effortless-sounding music made during a challenging period, emphasizing its role as a balm and a moment of exhale for listeners.