Alan Jackson Returns with "Angels and Alcohol"

By Timothy Yap Jun 13, 2015 12:26 AM EDT

Veteran country music singer Alan Jackson is following up his Gospel and bluegrass albums with his brand new country studio effort, Angels and Alcohol, on July 17. Jackson wrote seven of the songs on the disc himself. "I've been doing that for a few years now. When I got started on Music Row, I would write with different writers. Then, once my career took off, I was gone all the time -- playing a couple hundred shows a year. You weren't home long enough to wash your clothes. I ended up writing a lot by myself, and it just kind of stayed that way," he admits.

When asked if the title had any special significance, the Georgia native joked, "[My wife] Denise is the angel. I'm the alcohol. I didn't write it from a deep dark place. You'll have to hear the lyrics to understand, but it's one of my favorite cuts on the record."

The new album is Jackson's first collection of new country songs since "Thirty Miles West" in 2012. Jackson is celebrating 25 years since the release of his debut album, Here in the Real World. He's currently embarked on the Keepin' It Country tour, and his career is the subject of an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame that has been extended through June of 2015.

1. "You Can Always Come Home" (Alan Jackson)

2. "You Never Know" (Alan Jackson)

3. "Angels and Alcohol" (Alan Jackson)

4. "Gone Before You Met Me" (Michael White, Michael Heeney)

5. "The One You're Waiting On" (Adam Wright, Shannon Wright)

6. "Jim and Jack and Hank" (Alan Jackson)

7. "I Leave a Light On" (Alan Jackson)

8. "Flaws" (Alan Jackson)

9. "When God Paints" (Troy Jones, Greg Becker)

10. "Mexico, Tequila and Me" (Alan Jackson)