Allow Tyler Hubbard to reintroduce himself. The Florida Georgia Line star is certainly well-known—and well-loved—among country fans, but with this self-titled debut album, the singer-songwriter and Georgia native is ready to show the full scope of his creativity. Building atop 2022’s Dancin’ in the Country EP, Tyler Hubbard is a thoughtfully curated collection of the country music Hubbard does best: melodic, midtempo anthems (“Dancin’ in the Country”, “Small Town Me”), unapologetically twangy pop (“Everybody Needs a Bar”, “Out This Way”) and moments of vulnerability that give a greater glimpse into what makes him tick (“Miss My Daddy”, “Way Home”). The songs on Tyler Hubbard shouldn’t sound too foreign to FGL fans, though Hubbard says that being a solo artist feels decidedly different from being part of a chart-topping duo. “It’s unique, but it’s cool,” he tells Apple Music. “Because it just feels like I’m getting to connect with so many people on not a band level. Like, this is a personal thing. It adds this extra cool element of individuality. It did take a few shows to get used to that new dynamic, of just me and the band. But it didn’t take long, and it felt comfortable, man. I really enjoyed it.” Below, Hubbard shares insight into several key tracks on his self-titled debut. “Dancin’ in the Country” “I just told the guys, ‘Hey, I’d love to just write something fun, something that makes you want to dance and something that’ll make my kids want to dance at these dance parties they want to have every night.’ We had been doing that at the house for a while, and I was just taking notes on how they react to songs I wrote, react to songs they hear. And I just found a correlation with great songs and what would make them just move and dance and feel good. And then it just kind of rolled from there and turned into what it was.” “5 Foot 9” “It’s just a great love song. And it’s the same message you’ve heard a million times. And the same song has been written: [Kenny Chesney’s] ‘The Good Stuff’—you know what I mean? But we wanted to put a different spin on it and make it unique. And it just felt like it was not only paying tribute in showcasing my love for my wife, but also the simple things in life.” “Everybody Needs a Bar” “We were joking around, just trying to come up with something to write about that day. And me, Zach Kale and Jordan [Schmidt], my producer, we just were kind of talking about, ‘Hey, everybody’s got a bar in downtown [Nashville] these days. And if you don’t have a bar, what are you even doing?’ So, again, we just had fun with it, and it was a song that I kept going back to as a demo. I just couldn’t stop listening to it. I thought, ‘You know what? This needs to probably be on the album. This is a fun song and something that’d be really fun to play live.’” “Tough” “I was going through a hard time, for sure. And then, you look around, you talk to friends, you realise, ‘Man, everybody’s going through a hard time.’ And I think that specific day, this concept was born from that: ‘Let’s write something fun that’s going to inspire us and give us some sort of joy today, but also let’s be vulnerable and real with how we’re feeling and what we’re going through and where we’re at.’ And again, just the common narrative of ‘what don’t kill you makes you stronger’. Just that same concept but said from a different perspective and really trying to channel vulnerability and realness in what we’re going through and trying to find some healing through this music, I hope. That’s one of my goals with this album. I hope that it does bring healing through certain songs like ‘Tough’.” “Miss My Daddy” “I was having a rough night. One of my friends had lost her dad recently, and I was kind of channelling emotions from that, and it was taking me back. Just thought I’d write myself a therapeutic song that would feel good. Next thing you know, I’m putting the album together and I’m thinking, ‘Man, as much as I don’t want to put this song on the album, I think it’s absolutely necessary to tell my story fully because this is a huge piece of who I am and a huge part of my story.’ And also to show it’s OK to be vulnerable. It’s OK to be raw. I want to show that to the people. I want people to know that I struggle, too. I’ve been through hard times. Fifteen years, it still hits me every now and then.”