Lady Antebellum’s last album “Own the Night” opened on top of the charts, spawned two No. 1 hits and has sold more than 1.8 million copies.
By any measure the Grammy-winning trio’s follow-up to its life-changing hit “Need You Now” was a success — except one: How the trio feels about it looking back. The difference between that record and Lady A’s new release, “Golden,” is profound and reflects a new self-awareness for Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley.
“We’re happier with this record,” Kelley said. “I think we’re a lot more proud of it. We had more time. We had an album to separate us from … “
“The craziness,” Scott said.
“… the craziness and pressure that ‘Need You Now’ kind of put on us going into that third record. It was there and now we feel just a little more confident about where we are.”
Enter “Golden,” a laidback album that feels like a ride in a convertible on a sunny day. If “Own the Night” was Lady A trying to recapture the magic of “Need You Now” — the song that spurred worldwide fame and five Grammy Awards — “Golden” is the band purposefully not. Gone are the strings and the heavy arrangements. They’re replaced with simple songs built around the acoustic guitar, a forward-leaning groove and a ’70s singer-songwriter feel.
“Golden” comes as Lady A pushes past the 10 million mark in U.S. album sales and lands at an interesting crossroads with Scott expecting her first child, a daughter, in July.
Scott doesn’t mind telling you the baby came as a complete surprise to her and husband Chris Tyrrell and led to quite a bit of schedule rejiggering. The album release was pushed up by months and several summer shows had to be pushed back. She initially feared the news might upset Kelley and Haywood, and sought them out separately to give them the news.
“The first words out of Charles’ mouth were, ‘Don’t worry about this,’ because my personality is: This is going to affect everybody and it’s going to change everything, and I hate that my life affects everybody and it’s going to change everything,” Scott said. “But that’s just how it works.”
Kelley and Haywood, to the contrary, look forward to the time off. Kelley plans to golf and write songs, and Haywood may take up producing during the hiatus.
“I think that’s the only way we will last 20 or 30 years, if we allow ourselves to have our moments,” Kelley said.
