Singer/songwriter Jon McLaughlin has set October 7th as the release date for his new album “Ok Now.”  In a recent interview with Alternative Addiction, McLaughlin explained his struggles in gaining the inspiration to write the new album.

“After I got done with Indiana, I didn’t write a song for a year,” McLaughlin told Alternative Addiction referencing his 2007 major label debut.  “Just totally so sick of writing songs, I didn’t even try writing a thing for a year, and then I slowly got back into it.”

Getting back into a song writing mode wasn’t an easy one for McLaughlin, after being away from it for so long while recording and then touring in support of his debut album.

“It kinda freaked me out a little bit,” said McLaughlin.  “You keep telling yourself, ‘It’s not that I can’t, I just don’t want to write a song.’  You always have that thing in the back of your mind every time you finish a song that it’s going to be the last song you ever write.”

McLaughlin wasn’t totally on his own in writing the new album, he instituted the help of Bleu McAuley, or better known as Bleu, who recorded several solo albums including 2003’s “Redhead” on Sony Music.  McAuley co-wrote a handful of songs for the new album with McLaughlin.

“This record I probably wrote half the number of songs that I wrote for the last record.  Each song was a little more purposeful.  We had our 20 songs we had to narrow down.”

One major change for the new album was writing the songs on guitar instead of piano like McLaughlin did on “Indiana,” a change that the songwriter initially rejected.

“I am a piano player at heart.  If I died tomorrow, I would want to be remembered as a piano player, and then a songwriter, and then a singer,” said McLaughlin.  “That’s part of the reason why I was hell bent on having a lot of piano on that [first] record.”

Over the course of recording “Ok Now” McLaughlin began to realize there was some value in writing songs on a guitar, and entered the studio with a totally open mind.

“For whatever reason, I didn’t feel that kind of identity desperation anymore,” said McLaughlin.  “I’ve been trying for the last couple of years to write myself away from the piano and write songs that aren’t so piano based.”

If McLaughlin’s debut single, “Beating My Heart” is any indication, McLaughlin has successfully transitioned from his piano dependence, and his songwriting’s never been more hook filled.  While he may have struggled in several stages of making his new album, he’ll tell you since its all behind him, he’s definitely Ok Now.

Listen to “Beating My Heart” by Jon McLaughlin

Listen to Alternative Addiction’s Interview with Jon McLaughlin