Cody Johnson Says That His Next Album Will Be A “Little Bit Spicier” Than ‘Leather’

Cody Johnson is giving fans some minor details about his next studio project.

In the fall of 2024, Cody Johnson gifted fans a 24-track double album, releasing Leather Deluxe Edition, giving fans the second half of Leather, which was released the year prior. The deluxe record featured an additional 12 tracks, which he rolled out in a very organic way, letting the fans choose what they loved by limiting the number of singles that he shared with the world ahead of the record’s release.

Johnson shared that Leather and Leather Deluxe Edition were very special projects for him:

“This body of work is a little bit unique in the fact that I wanted to give the listener, give the fan a little bit of time to get to know these songs. Let’s not make a plan of that’s the next single, and that’s the next single. Let’s see what happens…see what streams, see what reacts at live shows, and let the songs battle it out for themselves instead of us making a plan based on an algorithm that’s going to work.

There are songs that may show themselves to be a huge hit that we didn’t give much of a chance. As organically as this was created, the freedom to go in and cut a record just because I wanted to…we are just kind of going to let it ride. Let the fans decide, and let the songs decide.”

Many of Johnson’s fans would agree that Leather and the deluxe edition of the record were truly something special. From the heartfelt tunes like “The Painter” and “Dirt Cheap,” that leave you wanting a deep love, to the songs dedicated to his daughters like “C’mon Cowgirl,” switching it up to the bluegrass crime-riddled tune “Georgia Peaches,” the project is well-rounded and shows the prolific artist that Johnson is.

While some artists might be nervous to follow up a record that was received so well by fans, Johnson is not worried at all and is excited for his next project, which he hinted should be dropping at some point in 2026. Johnson shared in a recent interview that he’s still putting the pieces together for this project and didn’t want to disclose too much information regarding new music, but he did share that he’s been in the studio and it’s very much so in the works.

“We just got Album of the Year before the ‘Deluxe’ came out, which was not intentional either. We were waiting. … I would say I’ve got a little bit of work for the rest of the year to get done with this record. I don’t want to talk a whole lot about it, because I’m still kind of playing with artwork and photography and the theme of this thing. I don’t want to ever do the same thing twice.”

Johnson shared with Everything Nash. While that statement gives little information to fans about the album, he did disclose to the outlet that fans can expect the next album to be a little “spicier” than Leather Deluxe Edition.

“I don’t want to go off the beaten path. But I do want to do something just a little bit spicier. You’ve got to follow up. You hit a home run. Next time you come up to the plate, people are kind of expecting a homerun. And I feel that pressure.

It’s a good pressure. That kind of pressure is a privilege to know that I’m in a position where I can really go hit it out of the park again. So definitely working on a new one already. I would say next year be expecting something.”

Johnson also shared with the outlet that he began recording songs for his next album before the release of Leather Deluxe Edition, and is really taking his time perfecting every aspect of it. Johnson is also about to be a father of three, with his wife Brandi getting ready to give birth to their first son, so I’m sure that Johnson was putting in work in preparation for that major life event.