BLAKE SHELTON - Texas - BBR Music Group/Wheelhouse Records

With 29 #1 singles, 52 million singles and 13 million albums sold, and nearly 11 billion streams already to his credit, global superstar Blake Shelton is absolutely at a point in his career where he can coast within the comfort zone of what he does so well and still achieve monumental success.

However, he’s doing quite the opposite as he begins his newest chapter with “Texas,” his first solo single since 2022’s “No Body” and the debut release with his new label home.

Written by Johnny Clawson, Kyle Sturrock, Josh Dorr and Lalo Guzman, the song delivers on the expectancy that Shelton has given us over his entire career with each next release in that it tests boundaries within some new territory flares while at the same time holding the foundational storytelling aspects that make country music so relatable.

Pulling slight traces of Latin kissed trails into a Texas cantina infused vibe, he instantly sets the bar side/barstool scene as he weaves the aftermath of how his now ex just up and left, cutting him loose as she seemingly vanished into thin air.

When drilled by the fellow patrons on how she’s doing and where she’s been, a call and answer style throws essence to the days gone by when that unique graft was prevalent in the genre as he then rolls to the chorus, tipping his cowboy hat to King George as he tries to satisfy the question of where she’s been.

“She's probably in Texas

Amarillo, all I know

George Strait said it

Yeah, that's where all them exes go

If she ain't with me out here in Tennessee

Then I don't know where she's headed

If I'm guessin', I reckon

She's probably in Texas

She's probably in Texas”

Cleverly map dotting throughout the second verse of how she could be at her mama’s house in Georgia or hanging out in Carolina or California, is all simply designed to lead him right back to the idea laced into the song that’s presumably playing on the jukebox and telling him she’s where all the ex’s go…Texas!

“The thing that struck me about ‘Texas’ immediately was how different it sounded for me, and I’m always looking to push myself,” says Shelton on the song. “This is the perfect opportunity to come back with something so different, and it easily felt like it should be the first single. It’s connected with what I’ve done but moves forward at the same time, and it’s the perfect start to the next chapter of my career.”

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis)