Blake Shelton is opening up about his heartbreaking new song, “Let Him In Anyway.” The song is from his forthcoming For Recreational Use Only, out on May 9.
“‘Let Him In Anyway’ is one of the more powerful lyrics and just overall pieces of music that I’ve ever gotten a chance to work on,” Shelton says. “I heard the song; Hardy is actually a co-writer on the song. He’s a friend of mine, and I just never heard a song quite like it. I don’t think this song’s ever been written before, anything like it. Whenever I heard it, and got a chance to record it, I was honored, and I’m really proud of the record that we made on it.”
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Shelton is eager for fans to hear all of the songs on For Recreational Use Only, his first new record since Body Language came out in 2021.
“I’ve been working on this thing for like four years now,” Shelton says. “I’m dying for people to finally get a chance to hear the music, and see what I’ve been up to with all this time. There’s a lot of cool things on there, a lot of collaborations, and just a ton of fun.”
Shelton has a Top 10 hit with “Texas,” the debut single from For Receational Use Only. The song, penned by Johnny Clawson, Kyle Sturrock, Josh Dorr,and Lalo Guzman, is unlike anything Shelton has released in the past. which is exactly why he wanted to include it on his new record.
“It kind of walks a line that’s a little bit of a ‘Stranger In My House’ or something like that,” Shelton tells American Songwriter. “It’s kind of got this haunting thing about it, but you can also jam out and rock out to it at the same time … I knew I loved the song, but I don’t record songs that I don’t love. So that was the easy part to, know that I loved it. I needed to know what other people thought about it before I was willing to say, ‘Let’s come with it first.’ I haven’t done this in a long time, and I wanted it to have an impact.”
For Recreational Use Only is Shelton’s first release on BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville. He was previously with Warner Music Nashville for 23 years. The excitement about “Texas” from his new label home is what prompted him to make it his first single.
“When I went in and played three or four things for BMG, they’re the ones that went, ‘Oh my God, this song,'” he remembers. “Then as I went around and played it for other friends and family and people that I work with. It was unanimous every time I played it for people. They were like, ‘Play that again.’”
Shelton will perform at the upcoming 2025 ACM Awards. He is serving as the executive producer of the new TV show, The Road, which also stars Keith Urban. Pre-order For Recrational Use Only, and find all of Shelton’s music and upcoming shows, at BlakeShelton.com.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the ACM