The song will be available on his forthcoming debut album
With his new release “Somewhere In The Sunshine,” multi-talent Charles Esten conjures a hopeful vision of the great beyond. Produced by Marshall Altman, the song offers anyone who is grieving a bit of peaceful harmony and consolation.
Following the sound of a lone miniature pump organ and supported from the beginning with Altman’s calm, shimmering, and dreamlike production, Esten sings with reverence from the perspective of a lost loved one, reassuring those of us left behind that they are in a better place. With inspirational lyrics penned by Esten and hitmaker Jon Nite (Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Gabby Barrett) like, “So don’t worry. Be happy. I’m finally home. / I’m waiting. I’m with you. You’re never alone,” “Somewhere In The Sunshine” explores the striking arc of loss, hope, and joy. As the profound track intensifies, Esten’s raw vocals soar with soul-stirring imagery and a rejoicing sense of faith. Lifted by layers of reverb-drenched guitars and swelling with bold drums, “Somewhere In The Sunshine” radiates into a warm crescendo of rich country rock.
The video was directed, filmed, and edited by Erika Rock, the Brentwood, TN-based location was a meaningful one for Esten, as it’s a favorite park for him and his family.
“My wife and I bring our dogs there and they absolutely love it. And every time we do, we descend a staircase of railroad ties that was built by our son and his friends several years ago as his Eagle Scout project. So, the spot is pretty special to me,” shares Esten. “In a real sense, it’s my ‘happy place.’ That being the case, it seemed the perfect location for me to truly connect with this ‘message from Paradise.’”
The power of the song was also clearly present during the video shoot. Esten remembers, “There was a point during one of the takes in the middle of the stream where I suddenly realized that Erika, while filming and not missing a beat, was crying. Concerned, I stopped singing and asked if she was okay. She said that she was, but that the song and the moment had all suddenly hit her, and that she was thinking of her father who had passed not long ago. I was instantly reminded of, and shown again, the sensitive and incredibly intimate nature of the song’s message. From there on out, it all somehow got even more meaningful. I was, in some sense, singing into that lens and using the lyrics to try to make her, and by extension all of the video’s ultimate viewers, feel all the peace that the song might impart.”
As featured on Esten’s highly anticipated independent debut album, Love Ain’t Pretty, due January 26, 2024. A diverse and richly textured full-length project more than ten years in the making, he explores life, love, and the passing of time through the lens of a traveled and tested everyman, who has never lost his innate sense of wonder, or his wide-open soul over the course of co-writing all 14 songs. Vividly detailed and filled with the emotional daring of a celebrated storyteller – both onscreen and onstage – Esten dives into wide-ranging themes of earth-shattering romance, big-picture reflection, and more. Love Ain’t Pretty is a culmination of a lifetime of growth, and as its title suggests, it hasn’t always been pretty, but it has been a beautiful ride. With a rollout of already released songs, “One Good Move,” “A Little Right Now,” “In A Bar Somewhere,” and “Down The Road” featuring Eric Paslay are all available now.
Breaking the news onstage last week at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN, during Nashville The Reunion Tour ahead of its international run, Esten announced a local album release show at Exit/In on January 26, 2024. Tickets are also on sale now for his back-to-back Nashville events to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society – Charles Esten & Friends 10th Annual Light the Late Night on October 27th and Charles Esten’s LLS Light the Morning Brunch on October 28th. Serving as the National Honorary Spokesperson for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Esten’s “Team Addie” – inspired by his daughter Addie who survived Leukemia when she was two-and-half years old – has surpassed over $2 million in cumulative funds raised over the last ten years.
