[6][7] Smith released his debut album Bronco in 2015 on Mercury Nashville, who he split with after saying he felt "lost in the mix" of the major label environment.

In 2019, he signed as the flagship artist to Round Here Records, an indie label founded by Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line, who Smith knew from his college days at Belmont University.

He said the duo supported him and allowed him "100% freedom" when working on his new music, with no pressure to chase radio airplay.

He remarked that he was "digging deep and reaching inside kind of thing to find that sound that best reflects me and not just a sound that we think is cool or is going to work or going to compete".

[8] Smith called the album "a flag in the ground for who I am and what I stand for".