Zac Brown gives Kyle Meredith a call to detail his two new records. The Owl features the Zac Brown Band, while The Controversy is billed as his first solo pop album. Both albums showcase an artist stretching out into new sounds and working with some of pop’s biggest producers, including Max Martin, Benny Blano, Ryan Tedder, and Skrillex and Brown gives us details into why he chose to take this direction, his need to explore, and some of the comments that critics and purists have given in response. In fact, one of these songs in particular, “God Given,” has received the brunt of the backlash, but Brown says it’s a song that been extremely misunderstood and uses this opportunity to clear the air. We also hear about covering The Wood Brothers “Shoofly Pie,” collaborating with Brandi Carlile on “Finish What We Started,” and his plan to release songs in “little batches” as the band goes forward.

Listen to the interview above and then check out the videos below.