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Keith Urban Wondered "How Long [The Pandemic] Was Going To Last," Then Decided To Write "Out The Cage"

"I [did] want a song to help me out of whatever I’m stuck in," notes the country superstar

"My plan was I was just going to put my comfy pants on and sit on the couch and eat chips until the whole thing blew over, that was my plan. Suddenly I went, 'This is a big thing and it’s going to take a while'. I had to figure out how to get on track again, just pivot and rethink everything and become adaptable to this new environment." Much like many of us, Keith Urban tells Absolute Radio Country that he had a fairly logical -- and very relaxed -- plan in March 2020, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Then, as days turned to weeks, the Australian-born country star took an aggressive tact.

He called Breland, with whom he collaborated (alongside dance legend Nile Rodgers) for the new single "Out The Cage." Regarding his instructions in the writing room to the breakout star singer-songwriter, he says, "I said to him this can’t just be about lockdown, I don’t just wanna hear about that. I don’t wanna hear about that next year that’s for sure. But I do want a song to help me out of whatever I’m stuck in."

Urban adds that the song's influence was derived from an intriguing place. “["Out The Cage" was] predicated on my love of those '90s Fatboy Slim records, and The Prodigy and some of that intense rhythmic energy," he says, noting the influence of the late '90s rave icons. "I wanted to try and write something that was built on that rhythmic bed. I brought the idea to a friend of mine, Breland who ended up singing on the song as well. He’s great, we’re working on another song right now, one of his songs I’m guesting on..."

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