As one-third of the six-time Grammy-winning trio Lady A, Charles Kelley has been a big part of country’s last two decades. Yet deep down, a different era was calling his name. With the June release of his second solo album, the towering singer-songwriter (he stands 6’6”) finally gave in, going full-‘80s pop on Songs For A New Moon. And he’s not ashamed to admit it.
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“I don’t think it’s country at all, to be honest with you,” Kelley tells American Songwriter. “I mean, that was one thing coming into this. I said, ‘I don’t want to insult the listener and be like, ‘Hey, here’s a country record!’ It’s not country. It is a pure soft-rock/pop-rock throwback record.”
Kelley’s creative honesty is certainly refreshing. But no matter how it’s categorized, Songs For A New Moon stands out. Marking the follow-up to Kelley’s Americana-style 2016 solo debut, The Driver, he says he just wanted to create something fun and something distinct from his work with Lady A. The band is in a good place, which means “I’ve got this opportunity as a solo artist to paint a little bit more outside the lines,” he says. And he didn’t miss his chance.
“In my heart, I’ve always been a really big ‘80s fan—and I think even when you listen to [Lady A] songs like “Need You Now” and “Just a Kiss,” they are very classic ‘80s, melodic-type songs,” Kelley says. “I call it ‘country insurance.’ Sometimes you can have a clearly very poppy song, and then the trick is, ‘Alright, throw a little banjo in there, throw a little mandolin on there, throw a little steel.’ And we do that as a band.”
But not on Songs For A New Moon.
Produced by Sam Ellis and Lindsay Rimes, the project allows Kelley to put his first musical love center stage, with obvious influence from Bryan Adams, Kenny Loggins, and beyond. Ripping saxophone solos evoke the feel of a Mel Gibson action movie montage, while syrupy synth lines and pounding electronic drums keep the emotional drama thick and the pulse high. Then there’s that smoky vocal presence. Even with Lady A, Kelley has sometimes felt like he was singing from a different decade.
“I’ve always felt like my voice leaned much more to a rock-n-roll kind of type of feel, and [this record] was just a way to showcase a different influence,” he says. “I mean, there’s a ton of Phil Collins-type vibes, some Hall and Oates vibes, a lot of Michael McDonald feels. It’s just all over these different inspirations.”
It also let the star get personal in ways he didn’t feel he could with Lady A. Not that his bandmates Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood wouldn’t support him—just that this really is a “new” phase of life.
“For those who don’t know, I went through this sobriety journey—I’m getting close to three years,” he explains. “And so there was just so much, I don’t know, personal growth, personal struggle, just everything kind of shifting.”
Kelley publicly stepped away from Lady A in 2022 to seek treatment for what had slowly become an alcohol dependency—and after a long road, he avoided disaster. Songs For A New Moon captures the comeback, with Kelley realizing he had become someone he didn’t want to be. There are some painful admissions in the 16 heartfelt songs (14 of them co-written by Kelley), but also a sense of euphoric release.
“I think there’s a new, fresh perspective. That’s what [the title] Songs For A New Moon [means],” he says. “I feel like I have just come out of this journey, realizing that I was holding on to so much fear. Fear of losing what I had. So much of what was driving me, I think, literally was fear-based.
“I just got to this place where I was like, ‘What kind of music do I want to make right now? What do I want to say? What do I want it to feel like?’ And I knew I wanted to make something that felt good,” he adds.
Kicking the writing process off with songs like “Run,” Kelley found that it didn’t have to be difficult. Co-written on a whim with Ellis, layers of soft focus digital keys, a drum machine, and Kelley’s Members-Only vocal brought a theme of romantic escape to life. It set the ‘80s tone, but the next co-write cemented it.
Clearly catching a vibe, he put his painful recent history in a glossy frame on the revelatory power ballad, “Can’t Lose You,” written alongside Rimes, Michael Whitworth, and “Need You Now” co-writer Josh Kear.
“I came in there and said, ‘Let’s do something fun. Can we go kind of ‘80s with this?’ But [I was] still thinking it would be a country-’80s, maybe Lady A song,” Kelley explains. “And [Rimes] just starts playing that riff. The whole four or five hours we were there, there was just so much excitement in that room, and we all left that day going, ‘I haven’t felt that excited.’ I think it was because we all stepped out of our own little boxes.”
Kelley admits it was tough to revisit the “madness” he and his family endured. Songs like “Take Back Goodbye” and “Never Let You Go” are snapshots of that time, complete with remorseful regret.
[RELATED: Charles Kelley Officially Releases His Goodbye Letter to Alcohol, “As Far As You Could”]
“I mean, I would say stuff on a drunken night and my wife would remind me about it three years later, and I was like, ‘I don’t remember saying that, that didn’t even sound like me’–and you realize those words stuck with her,” he says. “I was like, lyrically, I want everything to fit into a theme of redemption, forgiveness, gratitude, looking back, and overcoming some demons. Hopefully, people can hear the authentic kind of heart behind it.”
In fact, the album’s emotional intensity is only matched by its mood-boosting sonics— especially for anyone like Kelley, who knows the world of ‘80s pop by heart. Tracks like “Can’t Be Alone Tonight” recall the balladry of early Boyz II Men, while Kelley turns The Killers’ “Here With Me” into an epic orchestral masterpiece with Steven Tyler vibes. He even covers Cyndi Lauper’s iconic “Time After Time” like a glam-rock ballad, once again feeling right at home.
Overall, Kelley calls Songs For A New Moon a true passion project (he even financed it himself, removing some of the usual commercial pressure), and wants to reassure fans he’s not leaving Lady A. “No, never. I mean, to me, this is just another canvas to paint on,” he says. But he does hope fans register the honesty and enjoy the sonic throwback as much as he did.
“To me, music has always inspired me so much and lets me say things I can’t even express in my own way,” he says. “I want this to stir something in people. I want it to make ‘em feel. And I want it to hopefully transport people back to [the ’80s] a little bit.”
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