Hayes announces surprise album coming Friday

, "So, we initially planned to perform on Today and announce our October album release, however because the album was finished and because the fans were asking for more new music now, we wanted them to have it as soon as it was ready... and have it all, not just five or six songs."

Hayes covered a lot of musical ground on the disc, singing lead and background vocals,while also playing electric and acoustic guitar, piano, B3, bass, string, banjo, mandolin, Dobro, drums, programming and resonator guitar.

"I had nothing keeping me from saying what I wanted, writing what I wanted, producing what I wanted," Hayes told The Tennessean. "I spent a lot of time writing as if the world was watching, and I decided to make a record as if no one was watching, and that helped me remove all my filters. Budgets weren't an issue. Permission wasn't an issue. The only thing that wasn't happening is I wasn't speaking my truth and writing it."

The album title and theme - Wild Blue - is named after the first song Hayes penned for the project, noting: "As soon as we wrote 'Wild Blue,' I went into every conversation or co-write with that idea in mind and it led to some of the most honest realizations about myself and how I approach love and relationships. I'm so thankful for this journey and the path it's set me on personally and professionally."

The album includes his four previously-released songs, including latest single "Heartbreak," "One Good Reason," "Dear God" and "One Shot."

"I hope people hear the hope in its message. There is this sense of flight," Hayes said, "feeling that freedom and kind of loving the starting-over aspect of it. When you're holding on to too many things, there's no way you can possibly do that."

The track list is;
1. Madness (Hunter Hayes, Sam Ellis, Sara Haze)
2. Wild Blue (Hunter Hayes, Troy Verges, Gordie Sampson)
3. Heartbreak (Hunter Hayes, Thomas "Tawgs" Salter, Gordie Sampson, Simon Wilcox)
4. One Good Reason (Hunter Hayes, Sam Ellis)
5. Dear God (Hunter Hayes, Andy Grammer, Dave Spencer)*
6. Loving You (Hunter Hayes, Jordan Reynolds, Dave Barnes)
7. My Song Too (Hunter Hayes, Jordan Reynolds, Dave Barnes)
8. One Shot (Hunter Hayes)**
9. Night and Day (Hunter Hayes, Derrick Southerland, Sam Ellis)
10. Still (Hunter Hayes, Troy Verges, Tommee Profitt)^ Produced by Hunter Hayes and Sam Ellis
* Produced by Hunter Hayes and Dave Spencer
** Produced by Hunter Hayes
^ Produced and Engineered by Hunter Hayes