Kip Moore Has a Whole Album No One’s Heard Yet — Thanks, Quarantine
Kip Moore is among the country artists who had the unfortunate luck of planning an album release during the novel coronavirus pandemic: The singer's newest album, Wild World, arrived on May 29, which means he's been unable to tour behind the record and promote it with live appearances like he normally would.
However, this period of COVID-19 restrictions has provided Moore with some artistic inspiration — in fact, the singer says, he's written and recorded, at least preliminarily, a whole album's worth of material during this time.
"I've written a whole 'nother project that no one's heard. I set up a studio at my house, and for a month straight, that's all I did, was write and record," Moore shared during a recent media event. "And that's all I did out in the desert, when I was just out there in Arizona — I was writing every single morning and mountain biking and rock climbing during the day."
Moore is used to recording live with his band in the room with him, but this time around, he's been working only with drummer Matt Bubel and ace guitarist Charlie Worsham, all at home. Stylistically, he's been experimenting with guitar tunings; he also purchased a piano and is working on his skills on that instrument.
"It's been a very different avenue for me. And I think that having that creative outlet — I feel very alive when I'm doing that ... I'm definitely in a place of happiness," Moore reflects. "And I think that having that outlet here at the house has been a lifesaver for me, because I can't ... go down those spaces and those crevices that we go when you see how crazy the world is acting and how divided everything is."
The pandemic and other current social and political issues are on Moore's heart and mind, naturally, but he's not overtly writing about it. For example, he cites a recently penned track called "High Hopes," which he describes as "not COVID related, but it is COVID related, if that makes sense."
"I'm not writing about COVID, but because of the mindset that COVID has put me in, I think it's made me reflect on things in a different way," he clarifies.
In an effort to be mindful and reflective, but not worried and anxious, the artist has tried to keep his faith top of mind in recent months. "I definitely have my dark days," he admits, but he's worked to "take the words that I've read through my life and ... be that light when I can.
"And I fall short all the time ...," Moore continues, "[but] I've just tried to live my life in a way that, when I see something, I try to act on it and I try to do something about it ... and I can hopefully focus people's spirits in a positive direction."
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