What a pleasant surprise.
On Tuesday, Tim McGraw surprised audiences with the release of his new EP, Poet’s Resume. McGraw announced the project with an Instagram post Tuesday showing his gratitude for his fans.
The EP fits well with the message of gratitude and reflection that McGraw shared on social media. The title track, written by Josh Osborne, Lori McKenna, and Scott Stepakoff, explores the concept of the experiences of life being what makes one “qualified” to be a poet.
“One Bad Habit,” written by Aaron Eshuis, Marc Beeson, and Tony Lane, serves as a thank you letter, presumably to his wife Faith Hill, for continuing to love and put up with his flawed self. “Runnin’ Outta Love” is a sweet track that simply says love is the last thing he’ll run out of.
My personal favorite from the project is “20 for 30,” a song built around the idea of staying young as you age. The song, with writing credits from Brad and Brett Warren and Lance Miller, serves as a cross between an apology and a thank you to his wife for putting up with McGraw and all his youthful faults, and it features some of the best songwriting on the record.
Overall the EP has a strong message of gratitude throughout, which makes the release right before Thanksgiving make sense.
From a production standpoint, the EP is well aligned with McGraw’s last several albums. 2023 marks 30 years for Tim in country music, and his sound has obviously changed throughout that time. This isn’t a throwback to his early production, but if you are a fan of his newer stuff, you should feel right at home with these tracks.
Part of the surprise of this project is the timing, as it comes just three months after the release of his album Standing Room Only. According to an Instagram post from McGraw on Monday, the title track from that album reached number one at country radio this week, marking the 46th number one radio hit of his career.
McGraw is set to kick off his headlining “Standing Room Only” tour with Carly Pearce in March.
Check out a few of the new songs here: