The album in question, titled IT JUST COMES NATURAL, is being released in a year that marks Strait’s 25th anniversary as a recording artist, and coincides with the announcement that he is the most recent addition to the Country Music Hall of Fame. It’s also coming out alongside the jaw-dropping news that George Strait has become the all-time leader for Number One Country singles, as the album’s opening track, “Give It Away,” recently became his 53rd song to top the charts.

But rather than rest on his well-deserved laurels, the legendary Texas troubadour is back with one of the strongest and most well-rounded collections of his career.

For the first time, Strait recorded NATURAL in a new setting – a small studio in Key West, Florida. “I thought it might be a good idea to try something different,” says Strait. “You couldn’t tell that we cut this down there, there’s no island flavor at all, but we just had a blast doing it. The studio is probably the smallest I’ve ever been in, with the musicians all crammed back in a little room - but we got a great sound, and it’s such a relaxing atmosphere. I think I’ll probably go back again.”

Recorded once again with Strait’s frequent co-producer, Tony Brown, the sounds on the album reflect Strait’s characteristic blend of traditional country structures shot through with a healthy dose of honky-tonk spirit and Western swing. Moods range from the introspective “Come On, Joe,” in which a man’s late wife tells him to be strong and move ahead with his life, to the raucous “Texas Cookin’,” which is about just what it sounds like. An array of Nashville’s finest songwriters contributed to NATURAL, including Bill Anderson, Bruce Robison, Lee Roy Parnell, and Guy Clark.

“I’ve always just done the music that I felt comfortable doing,” says Strait. “I don’t really think that everything I’ve done has been really hard-core traditional - there’s definitely songs that you couldn’t classify that way. On this album, I wouldn’t call the title cut a traditional country song, but it’s a great song.” Indeed, the smash “Give It Away,” features Strait doing some unexpected spoken-sung sections, and it instantly sailed to the top of the country charts.

George Strait knows those charts well. His 1981 debut single “Unwound” was a Top 10 hit – and he has had at least one single hit the Top 10 every year since. His statistics are nothing short of astonishing, with more than 62 million albums sold in his career. He has 13 multi-Platinum, 30 Platinum and 33 Gold albums - more Gold albums than any other artist in Country Music, which ties him with no less than Frank Sinatra in eighth place for the most Gold albums of any artist in any musical genre.