Dylan Marlowe Talks Creative Growth And Embracing His Diverse Musical Influences On Sophomore Album [Exclusive]

Dylan Marlowe is stepping into a new stage of his career with the release of his sophomore album, which also marks his first self-titled project.

Since moving to Nashville around seven years ago, Marlowe has worked to build a name for himself in country music. He released his debut full-length album, Mid-Twenties Crisis, in September 2024 and has gained recognition along the way for collaborations with several notable artists, including “Boys Back Home” with Dylan Scott, “Stick to My Guns” with Riley Green, “Country in the Clouds” with Conner Smith and more.

Now, he’s ready to put the focus on himself with a new 13-track project that gives listeners a better idea of who he is as an artist and the kind of music he wants to make.

“A lot of my biggest songs are features and I just wanted to prove to myself that I can go and make a record, not out of pride on my own…and not out of a bad, ‘I don’t need anybody’ thing, but just out of like, hey, I believe in myself and I want to go put a record out that is just really mirroring what I’ve been working on and the kind of music I want to put out. It felt like the right one to self-title,” he told Country Now.

Marlowe’s sound has always pulled from a mix of influences, something that started growing up in Statesboro, Georgia. His dad, a former rock drummer, introduced him to bands like Sum 41 and Pearl Jam at an early age, eventually leading him to explore artists ranging from Blink-182 and Good Charlotte to country singer-songwriters like Eric Church.

Those different influences are highlighted throughout Dylan Marlowe, giving the album a sound that moves between country and pop-punk. He admitted that it has taken time to be able to stand up for the kind of music he believes in, and is now ready to push the boundaries a bit.

Marlowe is no stranger to the fear that comes with taking a leap of faith and stepping outside his comfort zone creatively, especially during the early days when he was first trying to find his footing in the music industry.

“It’s hard to go out on a limb, I’d say. And that’s why I also kudos to a lot of people that can do that straight off the bat and have a lot of confidence in that because it really does… I’ve always had this kind of outside the box mentality, and to be honest, sometimes it is a little tougher to live in that.”

He feels lucky to now have a team that not only supports his creativity but encourages him to go outside of the box. Because of that he had the confidence to hone in on that with this collection. Co-produced by Marlowe and Joe Fox, the project finds him leaning into the kind of music he enjoys with a goal of making an easy and lighthearted listening experience for fans.

“I just wanted to have a record that felt good, that was easy to digest. And so we kind of cut this record day by day. We didn’t have a list of songs that we knew were going on this record. We just figured out the first two and then we cut those. And then the second day we cut two more that felt like the first two, like cohesive. So there was actually a lot of songs that we thought we were going to cut that we didn’t because eventually we were like, oh, this doesn’t fit the record whatsoever.”

Back in August, he offered up the first taste of the project with the song, “No Coincidence,” which also serves as the opening track. It was the right tune to kick off this chapter as it offered a “fun, all-encompassing” preview of what was to come, Marlowe explained.

“It felt like something that was just easy to hear, easy on the ears, easy to listen to, and telling of what to expect on the project.”

He follows the pop-punk energy of “No Coincidence” with “In This Boat,” a few tracks later, shifting gears to showcase his softer side and heartfelt country storytelling. Releasing these two songs back-to-back was intentional as it gave listeners a taste of the different sounds and styles woven throughout Marlowe’s sophomore album.

“I wanted to show everybody both sides of what’s to expect on the record. There’s going to be some ‘No Coincidence,’ there’s going to be some ‘In This Boat’ sounding songs.”

Another set of tracks that lean more into the country side of his sound are “Dishes” and “Here Lately,” both of which tap into his small-town upbringing, and offer the kind of heartfelt, moving lyrics that are typically found in the genre. The two songs are also the only outside cuts on the collection.

Marlowe shared that this is his only project that includes songs that he didn’t have a hand in writing. He always stood strong in his desire to not cut an outside song unless it truly blew him away and made him think, “I don’t think I could have done that.” That feeling is exectly what he got when he listenerd to both of these tracks.

“I was like, ‘You know what? These are ones that need to go on the record.’ And a lot of times at the level I’m at, I’m not getting pitched all the A+ songs anyways, just because I’m not more Morgan Wallen or Luke Combs. So it’s hard to find a song that hasn’t been filtered through everybody,” he noted. “So I was really thankful to the writers of those that let me cut it. ‘Dishes’ was actually just Jeffery Jordan by himself, the lead singer at Band Camino, wrote it all by himself, which is pretty crazy.”

In addition to his solo work, Dylan Marlowe also introduced his new rock-leaning band, 80 Acres, in April of this year, when the five-member group launched its official Instagram account and revealed its name. The band released its self-titled debut EP just a few days later.

He first began thinking about forming the group after getting hit with a wave of frustration over writing songs he believed deserved to be heard but didn’t necessarily fit the mold of what country radio was looking for. He wanted an outlet for that side of his creativity, but struggled to find other songwriters who were interested in creating music without the pressure of writing something intended for radio. So, he turned to his bandmates.

“I was like, ‘I’m just going to write them by myself.’ After the fact, I’m sure there was plenty of people who would’ve loved to write them. It’s just the people I took them to didn’t really care about them. So I wrote them by myself and sent them to my band because I feel like when you tour so long with the same band, you kind of form a sound with them. And so I feel like they were very crucial to our live sound.”

Along with the different musical avenues of his life, Dylan Marlowe and his wife, Natalie also became first-time parents to their twin boys back in March. He explained that taking on this new role has forced him to learn how to prioritize everything in his life differently.

“My ‘no’ is a lot more powerful nowadays to the things that I do and don’t do because obviously they come first. So it’s been a lot of learning how powerful my ‘no’ is and when to say no, when to say ‘yes,’ and when to be available to the outside world and when to be available to my family,” he shared.

“It’s been fun and it’s been a really big growing moment for me as a person too. It’s kind of like from the day they were born, it’s just not about me anymore, which is really, really cool.”

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With so many different things happening in his personal life and career, Marlowe approached his newest album with the intention of fans being able to enjoy the songs without having to overthink them. There are no Easter eggs, no puzzle pieces to fit together and no hidden messages. More than anything, he wants the 13 tracks to speak for themselves and give listeners something they can simply enjoy at any time.

“It’s just, here’s 13, what I believe are really, really, really good songs, and I hope people enjoy it, and I hope they just listen to it the way that I intended it to be listened to, where they just listen to it throughout the day, listen to, go back to certain songs…I want it to be the easiest digestible record anybody’s heard in a long time.”

Fans can find Dylan Marlowe hitting the road with Austin Meade this December, with the duo co-headlining the “Marlowe and Meade’s Christmas Vacation Tour.” The holiday tour kicks off on Dec. 9 in Tulsa, OK.