Eli Young Band Reflects On Full-Circle Moment With New Album, ‘Strange Hours’ [Exclusive]

After more than two decades together, Eli Young Band is returning to their Texas roots to reclaim their sound and carve out a new path with Strange Hours, their first independently released album via UnLevel Records and their first full-length project in over three years.

The hitmaking group brought things full circle with this collection as members Mike Eli, James Young, Jon Jones and Chris Thompson recorded all 13 tracks at Panhandle House Studio in Denton, Texas. This happens to be the same space where the college friends formed their band and brought their debut album, Level, to life in 2005.

Getting to record right in their home state instead of traveling to Nashville to put it all together was a blessing for the band members, and something they have tried to do for years now. Sitting just a few blocks from the house they shared in college, the space brought new inspiration alongside a comfortable, familiar energy to the recording process.

Plus, being so close to home also allowed the band to find a healthier balance between career and family. They were able to record by day, then return home for school drop-offs, dinners, and bedtime routines, a stark difference from their usual recording sessions that required them to travel to Music City.

“Now that we’re a little bit older and having young kids, the biggest challenge of our career right now is just finding that balance between being home, being away, and so this really let us breathe a little bit easier to go record all day, go back home, be with the family, get up, take ’em to school, and then head back to the studio. It felt really great as opposed to in the past, it’s like you go to Nashville and you stay here for a week plus and it’s the producers that go home every night and we’re just in the hotel room. So that process made it really easy and it being the first independent release since about that time was really great. We had total control over the whole process start to finish, which was just wonderful,” Jon told Country Now.

As they settled into the recording process, the band found themselves reconnecting not just with their sound, but with a version of themselves they hadn’t felt in years. According to the tight-knit group, the familiar environment combined with the newfound freedom made this the “easiest” record to make in all their years as a band together.

“I think we felt a little bit like younger versions of ourselves. You kind of feel a youthfulness in all of it, but obviously I hope we’ve all gotten a little better at our instruments,” Jon joked. “We’ve definitely gotten better at playing in the studio. In fact that first time, it was really figuring out what playing in the studio is and how that’s different than from playing live. And after 25 years we’ve learned so much to be able to take that back there. There are definitely moments that if we didn’t have mirrors to look in, we might be able to fool ourselves that we were 20 years younger.”

“It was nice because it really was in the moment, we felt like the only four opinions that mattered when you make a record in Nashville and there’s a lot of people and a lot of opinions coming in and out,” Mike added. “The four of us making this album really got to follow our guts and follow our hearts on every song and really make choices that were kind of based on our opinions and it turned out pretty good.”

Produced by Jimmy Robbins and Eric Arjes, the 13-track album is packed with stories, powerful memories and real-life moments that represent both where they’ve been and where they’re going as a band. The band opted to release this record independently largely due to the huge backlog of songs that had been written several years ago that, in their eyes, weren’t being released quick enough.

“This big bucket of songs, nothing to do with ’em. And over the past few years, getting back on the road and getting the touring thing going again, it really felt like it was time to say something new,” said Jon. “And we had a lot to pick from and picked songs that we felt maybe weren’t the best of the songs that we’d written, but went together the best and felt like a cohesive project and it was nice to just put that moment down in time.”

Across the 13 tracks, fans will hear how Eli Young Band has evolved musically over the past decade. Rather than chasing current country radio trends and following the outlines of mainstream music, the band leans into a sound that feels true to them. They found themselves taking creative risks and aiming to lead, instead of follow, the direction of modern country music.

“I wanted to make sure we were doing stuff that you would find on Jet Black and Jealous, the record we made in 2000 something, the early off or on the level record where it just feels like we wanted it to feel a little bit like a roller coaster ride but still feel cohesive,” Mike revealed.

Beyond the music itself, the album’s title also holds a deeper meaning that ties into both the band’s personal lives and their impactful journey together. Each of their past projects, except for their self-titled record, has always been named after a song on the collection. So it only felt fitting to continue their tradition on this release.

Jon continued, “It really felt like ‘Strange Hours’ says something about the past 25 years of our lives together, especially now that we go home and it’s early mornings, getting the kids to school and all that at really bedtimes and doing that to heading out on the road and we’ve been keeping strange hours.” 

The group’s country-rock sound and distinctive harmonies return in full force, beginning on the opening track, “Nothing On The Wild,” and continue into the project’s only collaboration, “Whiskey Told Ya” featuring Corey Kent, who the group deemed to be the “perfect” voice to add to the album.

Including Corey Kent marked a significant moment in Eli Young Band’s career. Not only is it the one and only feature on the album, but its also the only feature they have ever had on any of their albums. As a result, they wanted to make sure they did it right.

“This song is perfect for the feature and he’s perfect on it. I think that he understands what I mean. It’s a little bit left to center for him probably than what he is doing, but he was all in and he wanted to help make an Eli Young Band record, so I think that turned out pretty good,” Mike gushed.

Fans had already gotten their hands on songs like “Nothing On The Wild,” “What Do Lonely People Do,” “I’m Yours Amen,” “Pretty Good Day For The Bar,” the project’s title track, and the lead single, “Home In Hometown.”

With the remaining tracks released today, we get to see the full picture and embrace the growth, new perspective and the nostalgia that’s interlaced throughout the album that marks a new chapter for the band.

Eli Young Band is excited to have the opportunity to tour their new songs from Strange Hours throughout their 2025 headline tour of the same name. The trek kicked off in early June and continues with dates through November.