Our feature series Origins gives artists space to detail everything that went into their newest release. Today, Ricky Montgomery breaks down his new EP, It’s 2016 Somewhere.
Ricky Montgomery has returned with a new EP, It’s 2016 Somewhere, which compiles new tracks, non-album singles, and two acoustic versions of fan favorites (“Mr. Loverman” and “I Don’t Love You Anymore”). The project is out today (April 15th), alongside a music video for new track “Settle Down.”
It’s no secret that TikTok has the power to blow up an artist overnight. What’s particularly strange, however, is when the algorithm decides to promote a song that was released to little fan-fare years prior. From Life Without Buildings to The Walters, the next viral indie discovery can come from seemingly anywhere or anytime.
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Enter Ricky Montgomery, who was on the verge of calling it quits before his songs “Mr. Loverman” and “Line Without a Hook” took off nearly five years after their initial releases. Now, the pop-rock artist is soon to hit one billion global streams and regularly sells out tours. Still, Montgomery holds that the lightning-fast path to success can bring on the bends.
“It threw me off at first,” he tells Consequence. “I had spent so much time growing away from the sound of my debut LP and, frankly, running away from it.”
It’s 2016 Somewhere takes its title from the years his hit songs were originally released and looks back on the unlikeliness of his journey to success. It’s a send-off to his pre-viral era, as Montgomery promises his next album will be “completely different.”
“This was an EP I felt strongly about needing to put together so I could move on more completely to the next phase of my life,” Montgomery adds. “It’s my final saccharine sendoff to my first album, a wink and a nod to The Honeysticks, and a Thank You Ma’am to my mom. It also serves as a little memory book of the first tracks I ever made after signing to a label, my first co-write, and the first tracks I ever produced completely by myself.”
In addition to the EP, Montgomery embarks on a headlining tour this spring; grab tickets here. It’s a celebratory goodbye to the first phase of his career as an artist, while ushering in the start of the next.
Give It’s 2016 Somewhere a listen and check out everything that inspired his closing chapter below.
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