As he prepares to step down from his longtime coaching gig on NBC’s The Voice, Blake Shelton says he’s looking forward to putting more of his attention into his next musical chapter.
The singer’s not quite sure yet what that looks like, he tells People in a new cover story.
“I’m really at a crossroads right now. The country music lane is changing so rapidly, and there’s some really good stuff out there,” Blake notes. “These young kids coming up, it’s amazing to see the music that they’re making and how creative they are.”
He goes on to say that he’s “excited” to delve back in to the music-making process and figure out what his role is in today’s country music.
“...I’m excited to get some time back away from The Voice and concentrate more on, ‘What kind of record do I want to make? Is it going to fit in? Do I care? Do I not care?’ I got a lot to figure out,” he continues.
But one thing’s for sure: Retirement is not on the table.
“Walking away from music, you might as well just poison me or something,” Blake continues. “That’s not something I can go without. I can’t help it.”
Blake’s most recent single is “No Body,” which has some throwback elements to his early days of cutting his teeth on small Nashville stages in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. He even brought back his signature early-career mullet -- albeit in wig form -- for the song’s music video.