If Jon Pardi's next studio album was a racecar, you could say it's somewhere between turns three and four. The follow-up to Heartache Medication (2019) is definitely not in the home stretch, but his pace is purposeful.

The still-unfinished album will include his new single "Last Night Lonely" and about 13 more songs that Pardi and his team will whittle out of the 30 they're looking at right now.

"It's really easy when you ask our group what can we not live without," the country singer tells Taste of Country Nights. "Then the list fills up really quick."

Next month, he plans to return to the studio to finish recording so that he can get everything turned in for consideration. Right now, he likes September for a potential release month.

"I can't even tell you the vibe of the record, because it's all over the place right now," he shares. "But that's the way we like our records. We bring it in, we get all these songs ... then we get the final list and it's like, 'Now we can talk about it.'"

Heartache Medication was nominated for Album of the Year at both the CMA and ACM Awards in 2020. The radio singles all reached the Top 5 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart, with the title track hitting No. 1. Overall, the album was praised for its traditionalism.

While still very country, "Last Night Lonely" is proving to be an easy fit on contemporary country radio and sits just inside the Top 40 after only a few weeks on airplay charts.

Though this new album doesn't have a defined vibe yet, it's hard to imagine Pardi pivoting very far from songs about boots, hats, booze and breakups. He doesn't chase trends, which fans will see once he finally drops the album.

"I'm not gonna do the whole triple album thing," Pardi tells ToC Nights' Evan Rose, bristling at the idea. "I'd rather just put this album out and write and write and write and put another one out next year."

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