Tim McGraw‘s long-awaited album,  Standing Room Only , drops this Friday, August 25. The record marks McGraw’s first new set of tunes since Here on Earth came out in 2020.

Ahead of the release of Standing Room Only, we found five things to know about the Louisiana native’s forthcoming record.

1. It’s personal.

McGraw wasn’t afraid to be completely honest in all of the songs on Standing Room Only, including “Hey Whiskey,” which embraces his sobriety.

“When I first heard it, it just blew me away, ’cause it made it a character,” McGraw said on Apple Music Country’s Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen, of the song, written by Brad Warren, Brett Warren, Joel Hutsell and Brad Hutsell. “It’s your nemesis and your best friend, which is what that is, which is what addiction is. It’s your nemesis and your best friend at the same time. To make whiskey a character in a song, like a real-life character that you’re talking to, is something that I’d never heard before.

“I’m sure there are songs out there that have done that,” he added, “but the way it was written, and what it said, was so heartfelt and meaningful.”

McGraw also included one song he wrote, “Nashville CA/L.A. Tennessee,” inspired by moving his eldest daughter, Gracie, to Los Angeles.

“It came out of loading up my Cadillac Escalade, my 19-year-old Cadillac Escalade, taking all the seats out of it, loading all of her stuff in, and her and I doing a solo cross-country trip together to move her to L.A.,” McGraw recalled (via People). “We had a great time on the trip, singing songs and playing music and stopping at cool places and spending time together. And then when I got [to Los Angeles], it was late at night and she was so ready to be here and so ready to get rid of Dad by that point!

“I unloaded all the stuff to where she was living, and she was like, ‘All right, Dad, I’m fine now! You can go,’” he continued. “And I kept lingering around, kept trying to move things around, trying to keep as much time with her as I could. And she finally gave me a big hug and says, ‘OK, Dad, I need you to go now!’ And then I just broke down and just started crying. … So, that song was born out of that road trip.”

2. It’s positive.

More than anything, McGraw wanted to share a positive message with all of the songs on Standing Room Only. It was the message of the songs that became the ultimate test for McGraw of whether the songs would or would not make it onto the record.

“Life-affirming,” McGraw said on Audacy Throwdown, when asked to describe the project. “This album is all about life affirmation, about being the best person you can be. It tells stories. It’s very cinematic, is probably a better word … I think from start to finish the whole album has a cinematic quality, where you can create your own movie and paint your own picture with every song.”

3. He thinks it is the best record of his career.

Because he poured so much into making the songs on Standing Room Only positive and uplifting, the 56-year-old says it might be the best project he has ever released.

“After everything that happened in the world over the past few years…. it made me want to find and record more meaningful, life affirming songs,” McGraw said on social media. “This album came out of it, and I truly think it’s the best project we’ve ever made (I feel like I say that every time, but as an artist, I want to work to get better with every record and I’m really proud of this one).”

4. It’s very country.

McGraw has never strayed far from his country roots, but with Standing Room Only, he is embracing the genre that he has been a part of for more than 30 years.

“There are some really good, sort of throwback country things on this that I really enjoy doing, and got into my George Strait vein a little bit,” McGraw said on Audacy’s Katie & Company.  “There’s a good mixture of stuff. I always try to do that with every album. I never want to just have one style of song on the album. I want to give you sort of a smorgasbord to choose from.”

5. His wife, Faith Hill, helped him pick all of the songs on the record.

While McGraw might not always heed her advice, the singer does say that his wife, Faith Hill, helped him pick all of the songs on Standing Room Only.

“Faith is always my first set of ears that hears everything,” McGraw said, adding that he also plays songs for his daughters as well, even if the response isn’t as positive. “They’ll tell me when they don’t like it. And we don’t always agree. And Faith and I don’t always agree either on songs, but she’s always a great sounding board.”

The title track of Standing Room Only is currently in the Top 15. Ahead of the record’s release, McGraw also released “Remember Me Well.” See a track list for the album below, and pre-order Standing Room Only at TimMcGraw.com.

Read ‘Tim McGraw: 11 Things to Know About the Singer and Actor’ here.

Standing Room Only Track List:

1. Hold On To It, (Ryan Larkins, Seth Mosley, Jimmy Yeary)
2. Standing Room Only, (Tommy Cecil, Patrick Murphy, Craig Wiseman)
3. Paper Umbrellas, (Monty Criswell, Drake Milligan)
4. Remember Me Well, (Heather Morgan, Jimmy Robbins)
5. Hey Whiskey, (Brad Hutsell, Joel Hutsell, Brad Warren, Brett Warren)
6. Her, (Jason Gantt, Tim Nichols, Jimmy Yeary)
7. Fool Me Again, (Kameron Marlowe, Brad Warren, Brett Warren, Rob Williford)
8. Small Town King, (Jaren Johnston, Jenn Schott, Jeremy Stover)
9. Beautiful Hurricane, (Mike Lane, Tony Lane)
10, Cowboy Junkie, (Bill Luther, Lance Miller, Justin Weaver)
11. Nashville CA/L.A. Tennessee, (Featuring Lori McKenna), (Tim McGraw, Lori McKenna, Bob Minner)
12. Some Songs Change Your World, (Mark Irwin, Josh Kear, Lance Miller)
13. Letter From Heaven, Songwriters (Chase McGill, Lori McKenna, Parker Welling)