After announcing his debut album A ROCK (9/4) earlier this week, Big Loud Records mold-breaker HARDY previews the much-anticipated 12-track collection with “GIVE HEAVEN SOME HELL,” available now at all streaming platforms and digital retailers. Met with early praise, Rolling Stone recognizes “HARDY’s gift: synthesizing biography with imagination to create real storytelling.”
Written by HARDY, Hunter Phelps, Ben Johnson and Ashley Gorley, “GIVE HEAVEN SOME HELL” serves as a soulful, sentimental tribute to a departed friend, emphasizing the “smart, twisty songwriting and penchant for small-town stories” (Billboard) that HARDY has become known for.
“‘GIVE HEAVEN SOME HELL’ is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written,” shares HARDY. “I just hope this helps anyone that’s ever suffered a loss of a loved one. Excited for this song to exist in the world.”
Accompanying the pensive tune is its equally compelling music video, directed by Justin Clough and shot in Lynnville, TN. Featuring a cast made up of HARDY’s repeat collaborators and A ROCK album co-writers — Jameson Rodgers, Hunter Phelps, Jake Mitchell, Ben Johnson, Smith Ahnquist and more — the clip is a heart-wrenching visual depiction of the story told in “GIVE HEAVEN SOME HELL.” Set against the backdrop of a rural church funeral, HARDY and company celebrate a friend in life and in death, reminiscing on old stories interwoven with flashbacks that revive his memory and allow them to send him off in a bittersweet way.
Pre-order is live now for A ROCK — produced by Joey Moi and co-produced by Derek Wells, with additional production from David Garcia and Jake Mitchell — as fan favorite “BOOTS” soars in popularity and HARDY’s sophomore single “ONE BEER” feat. Lauren Alaina & Devin Dawson catapults through Country radio’s Top 25, described by American Songwriter as “a shot in the dark” where HARDY “draws back an arrow pointed at small-town America, and his aim is true” (Taste of Country). HARDY is currently nominated for ACM Songwriter of the Year and Song of the Year (God’s Country).