EXCLUSIVE: Bryan Adams Breaks Down His New 'How's It Goin'' Album

Bryan Adams has announced his next studio album, How's It Goin' -- which he calls "a love letter" to his native Canada -- for release on Nov. 6 via his own BAD Records label.

The 12-song set -- the follow-up to last year's Roll With the Punches -- has been preceded by the protest single "51st State," a response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to annex Canada, and "The Ballad of Terry Fox," a salute to the Canadian distance runner, whose right leg was amputated in 1980, which Adams wrote for the documentary Run Terry Run.

Adams tells UCR that he recorded the 12-song set over the course of three months, inspired by work he was doing for another documentary, the upcoming four-part series Canada's Wild Eastern Edge.

"I was touring Africa and I got a request to write a song for (the documentary) and I thought, 'Well, I'll see if I can knock something out. I wrote a song based on the name of the documentary; I did quite a bit of research before I wrote the song, just looking at the eastern provinces and delving into the geography and the history.

"In the process of doing that I started digging into the history of Canada and compiled quite a bit of stuff, and of course the current affairs being what they are, I felt compelled to write something that was of the time. So I had the song for the documentary and '51st State,' and '51st State' I thought would be perfect to put out on Canada Day (July 1), and so we did that. So now I've got a couple of other songs and a bunch of other stuff I was working on and I started going down the rabbit hole of writing this sort of love letter to Canada."

Hear Bryan Adams Perform '51st State'

Adams adds that, How's It Goin' is a typical Canadian expression, so I've written a song about that. There's quite a bit of tongue-in-cheek on the album. I actually wanted to call the album Songs From the Great White North but it turns out somebody else had used that title, so, 'OK, I'll come up with something else.'"

In addition to "51st State" and "The Ballad of Terry Fox," other songs on How's It Goin' include "Diesel and Dirt," "Iron Ribbon" and "The Battle of Lundy's Lane." In addition to CD, LP and digital, the album will be released in a hardback book edition with a CD, lyrics and images connected to the songs.

"51st State," of course, has drawn considerable attention since its release, with Adams declaring in the song that, "When you're talking about my home, you better show some respect...Go on load us up with tariffs/But we'll never be the 51st State."

He acknowledges it's more directly political than what he usually writes, "but why not? If certain people can say what they want, so can I. It’s just his garbage. You want to think people can see through that stupidity, but I don't know. "

Adams played the song during his summer dates in the U.S. and was pleased with the reception -- even in conservative southern states. "It's unbelievable how well it goes over," he says. "I'm singing about my country, so who cares? I think they get it. And if they can't take a...joke, too bad."

Adams is in the midst of a tour through Canada that wraps on Sept. 15 in Abbotsford. He kicks off a European run on Sept. 30, then will be back at the Wynn Las Vegas for a five-date residency in October, followed by a return to Europe in November.

Hear Bryan Adams Perform 'the Ballad of Terry Fox'

Bryan Adams, How's It Goin' Track List:

1. "How's It Goin'"
2. "Highway 16"
3. "Diesel & Dirt"
4. "The Battle of Lundy's Lane"
5. "The Ballad of Terry Fox"
6. "51st State"
7. "When Canada Joined Newfoundland"
8. "A Handful of Gold"
9. "Iron Ribbon"
10. "The Bridge"
11. "Canada’s Wild Eastern Edge"
12. "Heave Away"