Rounding out a whirlwind year that included hitting the road with country music’s rising star Ella Langley, launching his very own rock band, 80 Acres, and arguably the most exciting milestone of all, welcoming twin boys into the world, Dylan Marlowe has returned with a self-titled album that perfectly captures where he’s at in life.
Marking his sophomore album and arriving just two years after his breakout project, Mid-Twenties Crisis, Marlowe says the creative process was pretty straightforward this time around: “It was more so just write a bunch of songs and then pick the best 13.”
In a world where everybody and their mother seems to be releasing Bible-length projects packed with 20-plus tracks, Marlowe admitted he could’ve easily followed suit: “We could have probably done a 20 or 30 song record, but I just wanted to keep it pretty low and digestible.”
With several tracks already earning plenty of fan approval, including “In This Boat,” “Rock The Jukebox,” and “Here Lately,” I sat down with Marlowe ahead of the album’s release to dive into this exciting new chapter of his career. For those who have yet to check out the aforementioned singles or dig into the full tracklist, one thing is immediately clear: Marlowe’s work with 80 Acres has started to bleed into his solo artistry.
While many fans may have initially assumed the five-man band, which released its debut EP back in April, would serve as a separate outlet for Marlowe’s angst-filled anthems and dad-rock influences, he explained that the heavier sound has simply become an extension of who he is as an artist.
Q: You obviously always leaned more into the rock sound from “Empty Shotgun (Mr. Mechanic)” to then “like UC Mine”You See Mine” and then your Bilmuri collab in 2024, but this album in particular definitely leans more towards the rock side. Why is that?
A: It’s more so just like kind of where my music’s just kind of evolved. Like, like you said, it’s always been one here, one there. But this one was really just fully leaning into no boundaries or no boxes, and just kind of doing what we naturally wrote. It’s kind of just what I’ve been listening to and just going back to the roots.
Q: How do you decide which song you write goes to which side of you; Dylan Marlowe or 80 Acres?
A: There’s like a very obvious, clear line when I write it. Like most of the 80 Acres stuff, I write by myself, and it’s longer or not as symmetrical and perfect. Most of the Dylan Marlow stuff, I write with other writers in town, and it’s way more produced and more polished versus 80 Acres, which is a lot rougher.
Q: With the mid-20s crisis, I know that you had mentioned it was more radio-focused and there was an underlying thought of producing hits that are gonna perform well on radio. Was that still a focus when writing your self-titled project?
A: It wasn’t a focus. It was more like, ‘well, if I write enough songs, like one or two or three will show their hand to get sent to radio, but I’m not gonna write just for it.’ If that makes sense. It was kind of just like knowing, we’ve got a team, and like that just happens when songs do well; they end up on the radio. So I kind of didn’t write as hard specifically for that.
Q: Was there a song that you felt the most anticipation for that you’re the most excited for people to hear?
A: Probably one called “Death Do Us Part” because I’ve teased it a while ago. I was gonna put it out as a single, but we had a management swap and then kind of put it on pause. I thought it’d be cool to actually just put it out on the record, and so I think a lot of people are excited for that.
Q: “Death Do Us Part” and “Save A Buck” were both funny because you could convince me that HARDY was a co-writer on those songs, and I see a lot of people say that in your comment section. How do you feel about the comparison?
A: He’s one of the first people who really went on a limb and did the rock thing with country, and so I mean he really opened the door for a lot of guys. I feel like we probably grew up pretty similar so I think that’s why a lot of the a lot of times the things I have to say are kind of similar because you know he grew up in Mississippi. I’m in Georgia. Hunting and fishing and all that. Sometimes, I could see some of the comparison and maybe the vibe of the songs, but I’d say we’re pretty different.
Q: Throwing it back to your previous rock-heavy tracks, I have to ask about your 2024 collaboration with Bilmuri, “EMPTYHANDED.” How did that come about?
A: Oh, he’s just like a big country music fan, and I had a song called “Grew Up Country” a little while ago, and he loved that song. And so he was just like, “Hey, I want to get together and write.” And so a guy that I write with a lot wrote a lot for him, and so we all three just got together. It happened pretty quick.
Q: Now that 80 Acres is up and running, would there ever be another collab between him and the band?
A: I think the part two would actually be on Dylan Marlow, if I had to guess. We’ll see; we’re in the talks.
Q: This project you decided to go no collabs on, even though you have had so many incredible collaborations in the past. Was that intentional?
A: The only collab that we thought of, honestly, was Johnny [Bilmuri], and I think we wanted to kind of write one instead of having just him feature on one. So I was like, you know what? I’m just gonna do this project by myself. I have a lot of collabs, and I just kind of wanted to prove to myself we can have a successful record without any.
Q: You did record one of your first outside writes for this album, correct? I believe it was the last track, “Dishes,” written by Jeffreey Jordan from the band Camino?
A: That one and “Here Lately” are the only two songs on the record that I didn’t write, and they’re the only the first two I’ve ever cut that I didn’t write. So pretty crazy. My producer Joe heard it and thought, “Man, this would be sick for Dylan. Let me show it to him.” Joe knows what really good songs are. The actual words of the song, like ‘callus’ and ‘solve my human condition,’ and ‘premonitions,’ those words stood out to me. It was more than ‘here’s a beer in a truck.’
Q: Congrats also on being a part of one of the biggest fan-favorite tours of 2026, I’d say, with Ella Langley. You two have a long history together; what’s that been like?
A: When we both moved to town, there were like a bunch of us living over in Hermitage, so we wrote a bunch with Joy Beth together. I would say we came up to an extent together, and then she just hopped on a rocket ship… On tour this year, Gabriella Rose was on there with us as well, and there was a minute where I was like, ‘Dang, I think I’m the only guy on this tour right now,’ and Ella was like, ‘Yeah, I can’t have too much testosterone out here.’ She’s the best. I mean, so sweet. Their whole crew was so sweet to us, and it was really fun.
Q: As for 80 Acres, is there anything planned for 2027?
A: There’s going to be a lot for 80 Acres. We’re gonna do a record, hopefully, so I’m writing for that right now and pulling together some really cool collabs for that, so be on the lookout.
Q: And even more exciting, how are your two baby boys? When they get older and finally understand what you do, what do you hope they say about their dad?
A: They are growing and getting their little personalities. It’s awesome. I hope they say that I persevered whenever it got tough, and that I was myself making the music and not trying to copy anybody else. I want them to be like, yeah, Dad did his own thing, however big it gets or doesn’t get.
Q: Now that you’ve made your mark in the country world, who are some other newcoming artists that you’re most excited about?
A: I love Cody Lohden and Phil Kane, and gosh, there’s this group called Highway Home that’s kind of coming out. They’re sick too. I love all those guys.
Q: Rounding things out, what’s something happening in country music right now that you hope to see more of?
A: I would love to see more of just like people just coming out with good music and less like sex scandals or like who’s sleeping with who. I would love to see more of guys with just good songs winning, or good girls, like, you know, Ella and Emily Ann Roberts. I love them. They’re so good, and they’re just purely there because their music’s insane.
With Marlowe also teasing a headlining tour coming up soon in 2027, the 29-year-old Georgia native surely has many more surprises up his sleeve in the upcoming months. Not to mention a brand new piece of farmland to take care of, which he jokingly mentioned was a blessing from writing Jon Pardi’s No.1 hit, “Last Night Lonely.”
In the meantime, check out Marlowe’s self-titled album, officially out now:
Tracklist:
- No Coincidence (Dylan Marlowe, Tucker Beathard, Zach Abend)
- Shotgun Seat (Dylan Marlowe, Michael Hardy, Smith Ahnquist, Jordan Schmidt)
- Wrench In My Plans (Dylan Marlowe, Corey Crowder, Jameson Rodgers)
- Call You Mine (Dylan Marlowe, Zach Abend, Dan Alley, Smith Ahnquist)
- She’s Havin’ A Fire (Dylan Marlowe, Joe Fox, Jeb Gipson, Smith Ahnquist)
- In This Boat (Dylan Marlowe, Zach Abend, Michael Tyler, Thomas Archer)
- Rock The Jukebox (Dylan Marlowe, David Garcia, Hunter Phelps)
- Here Lately (Joe Fox, Abram Dean, Trannie Anderson)
- Catchin’ Strays (Dylan Marlowe, Tucker Beathard, Lindsay Rimes)
- Save A Buck (Dylan Marlowe, Kyle Fishman, Chris Tompkins, Travis Wood)
- Death Do Us Part (Dylan Marlowe, Zach Abed, Brent Anderson, Jameson Rodgers)
- Mother Of A Memory (Dylan Marlowe, Hunter Phelps, Zach Abend)
- Dishes (Jeffrey Jordan)