Brent Smith hopes sprawling ‘EI8HT’ album proves that Shinedown is ‘everyone’s band’

As Brent Smith sings on Shinedown’s song “Three Six Five,” a lot can happen in a year. Well, a lot can also happen on 18 songs.

So you’ll discover on EI8HT, the aptly titled eighth studio effort from the “Second Chance” outfit. The de facto double album takes many twists and turns along the way to proving, as Smith sees it, that “Shinedown is everyone’s band.”

“I really do believe that there is something for everyone on this record,” Smith tells ABC Audio.

Unlike Shinedown’s previous two records, 2018’s ATTENTION ATTENTION and 2022’s Planet Zero, Smith says that EI8HT is not a concept album.

“These songs all belong on the same body of work, but … they don’t relate to one another,” Smith says. “Every song is its own story.”

While EI8HT might not adhere to a specific narrative, it does weave a number of related themes together throughout, including fatherhood, family, growing up and, ultimately, taking control of your own destiny.

Different sounds are used to evoke certain themes: the theatrical opener “At the Bottom” reflects the Broadway background of bassist Eric Bass’ family, while the closer “The Pilot” is a sonic representation of Shinedown’s long-running relationship with songwriter and producer Dave Bassett.

Meanwhile, the country-ish “Searchlight” soundtracks Smith’s advice to his son, and the gothic “Deep End” brings him back to being a teenager watching The Crow in theaters.

In naming such a sprawling work, Smith says he and his bandmates kept a notebook full of “ethereal” and “highbrow” potential titles, but were struck by inspiration upon seeing a piece created by art director Mark Obriski featuring the Shinedown logo combined with the word “eight.”

“I was like, ‘Let’s just call it EI8HT, ’cause that’s what it wants to be,'” Smith says.

EI8HT is out now.